House to act on Israel aid, but Ukraine up in the air, after Iran’s attack

Speaker Mike Johnson is vowing to take up aid to Israel following Iran’s Saturday drone attacks and renewed bipartisan pressure.

And that is fueling questions whether the GOP leader will also act on Ukraine aid, which comes as Ukrainian leaders warn they are running out of resources to combat Russia’s military aggression and as he faces ouster threats by some of his own membership.

In an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo,” Johnson said he plans to move forward with Israel aid bills this week, though he did not provide further details, noting they are “looking at the options on all these supplemental issues.”

When asked about Ukraine, Johnson did not say when it would be taken up or whether it would be tied to Israel funding. But he cited his recent visit with Donald Trump down at his Florida-based Mar-A-Lago resort, pointing to several ideas he previously floated including sending additional money to Ukraine as a loan.

Trump has "introduced the loan-lease concept which is a really important one, which I think has a lot of consensus, as well as these other ideas, the Repo Act, which is seizing the assets of corrupt Russian oligarchs to help pay for this resistance,” said the Louisiana Republican, noting they will pull together their own plan and send it over to the Senate. “I think these are ideas that I think can get consensus, and that's what we've been working through.”

Johnson has been under pressure from both sides of the aisle to hold a vote on stalled military assistance for Kyiv for months. The Senate cleared a $95 billion foreign aid bill to help arm Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in February, while House GOP leaders have only held votes on military assistance for Israel.

The drone attacks from Iran — though mostly knocked down by Israeli, U.S. and other nations’ air defenses — marked a dramatic escalation in the Middle East. And it also sparked renewed calls for the House to vote on a bill to speed military aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

But unlike Israel and Taiwan aid, Johnson is facing threats to his speakership from within own ranks if he moves on Ukraine aid. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has not started the clock on a motion to vacate resolution, but she — and other Republicans more privately — argue that could change as his right flank waits to see how Johnson handles Ukraine.

Several top Republicans — including the three leaders of relevant committees — argue in the wake of the attacks that Johnson must hold a vote to grant aid to both allies as well as to Taiwan and other Pacific partners.

House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said that whether the Senate-passed bill comes up for a vote "is a speaker determination." He and other national security committee chairs would discuss the issue with Johnson tonight, McCaul added.

“We have to get this done. I would implore — what I need to educate my colleagues [on] is they're all tied together,” McCaul said on CBS' "Face the Nation," arguing the threats posed by Iran, Russia and China are interconnected.

"I have a commitment it will come to the floor, my preference is this week," he added, warning time is running out.

House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) on Sunday predicted a combined aid bill will finally clear the House this week with “overwhelming support.”

“I think that the speaker has been very clear: He supports Ukraine funding. He supports funding for Israel. He supports the Asia package,” Turner, a top GOP supporter of Ukraine, said in an interview on NBC's “Meet the Press” Sunday. “It's part of the national security supplemental and he has made it clear that he sees that the path is for that to come to the House for this week.”

And House Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) told POLITICO on Sunday he “100 percent” backs up this call for a full supplemental.

Johnson has so far sidestepped the Senate’s proposal. Centrist Republicans and Democrats have floated a smaller $66 billion package that focuses funding solely on military aid and includes border security measures.

One of the House bills expected to be brought up in the House this week is a bipartisan bill led by Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) that aims to make the sanctions established by the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 permanent ahead of their expected expiration in 2026, according to a Republican with direct knowledge of the matter.

The bill intends to “ensure the U.S. can maintain critical deterrents and apply pressure to the Iranian regime to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons,” according to a press release after the legislation passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee last year.

In the weeks after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, Johnson pushed through an Israel-only aid bill. The measure fell largely along party lines after Johnson opted to slash funding for the IRS, a move opposed by Democrats. Johnson talked up the approach again Sunday, and slammed President Joe Biden and House Democrats for opposing standalone Israel aid bills.

Democrats, meanwhile, are insisting that Johnson simply grant a vote on the foreign aid package the Senate passed two months ago. The upper chamber approved the measure with broad bipartisan support, and the funding bill would go directly to Biden’s desk if the House passed it.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," declined to say whether Biden would sign an Israel-only aid bill. He pushed for the Senate bill.

“If that bipartisan legislation gets to the floor in the House, it will pass,” Kirby said, arguing it is the fastest way to help Ukraine. “There’s enough votes for it. So our message to the speaker is get that on the floor, let’s get it voted on so that that aid can get to Israel and Ukraine in the fastest possible way — and not have to go back to the Senate for renegotiating. It’s solid.”

The attack saw a raft of House Democrats urge votes on the bill as soon as Congress returns Monday.

“The world is on fire. We should stand with our Democratic allies and push back against the enemies of freedom," House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries posted Sunday. "The House must pass the bipartisan national security bill. Tomorrow."

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the Senate measure “the only thing that can pass.”

"The only package that we should be taking up, the only package that I will support is the package that was passed in a bipartisan way in the Senate,” Meeks said on MSNBC’s “The Weekend.”

“We [can] pass it tomorrow night when we get back in. It could be on the president's desk first thing Tuesday morning,” he added.