House Republicans target Ukraine and Israel aid post Iran missile strike
House GOP leaders are reviewing aids for Ukraine and Israel after Iran’s missile attack on Israel. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner anticipates a vote this week to provide Ukraine with necessary weapons. Aid discussions were previously stalled due to differences in the Senate package. Calls for aid have intensified as Ukraine’s equipment supply dwindles. House GOP leaders are currently assessing aid for Ukraine and Israel following the recent Iran missile strike on Israel. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner is expecting a vote this week to allocate essential weapons to Ukraine. Aid discussions faced delays due to discrepancies in the Senate package. The urgency for aid has heightened as Ukraine’s equipment stockpile diminishes.
Iran’s Saturday missile attack on Israel has reignited urgency for House GOP leaders to consider foreign aid to Ukraine and the Jewish State, with Republicans anticipating a vote on an aid package this week.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) said in a Sunday interview with NBC News’s Meet the Press that he believes a vote on Ukraine aid will come to the House floor this week, and he expects it to pass.
“Everyone has been very much on this side of understanding that we’re at a critical point. Russia is beginning to gain ground, Ukraine is beginning to lose the ability to defend itself,” Turner said. “The United States must step up and provide Ukraine the weapons that they need, and I think we’re gonna see overwhelming support for that in the House this week.”
WATCH: House Intel Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) says he expects the House to pass Ukraine aid this week.@RepMikeTurner: “I expect it to pass. … The United States must step up and provide Ukraine the weapons that they need.” pic.twitter.com/3vO6An964P
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 14, 2024
Ukraine aid has been stalled in the House since February after House Republicans declared the Senate’s foreign aid supplemental dead on arrival because it did not offer any provision for U.S. southern border security. The decision to forgo the Senate’s package was helped along by comments from former President Donald Trump, who demanded congressional Republicans reject anything other than a “perfect” deal on the border.
However, Turner denied on Sunday that Ukraine and Israel aid was being “held up” by Trump, instead placing the blame on a lack of legislation on “debates and deliberations.” Both Rules Committee ranking member Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) are spearheading discharge petitions to bring some manner of Ukraine aid to the floor. McGovern’s petition focuses on the Senate package, while Fitzpatrick and his allies are looking to find a compromise including both foreign aid and border security.
Eyes are on House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to see how he will bring foreign aid to the House floor for a vote, particularly as some hard-right Republicans have said they will oppose any more funds to Ukraine. Hanging over the speaker’s head is a motion to vacate from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who said this past week that any movement on her motion would depend on how Johnson handles Ukraine aid and the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Johnson said in an interview with Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures that the “details” of the foreign aid package “are being put together.” He did not rule out voting on aid for Ukraine as well as Israel, but he did not seem inclined to put the Senate package on the floor.
“We’ll send our package, we’ll put something together and send it to the Senate and get these obligations complete,” Johnson said.
Calls for aid for both Ukraine and Israel have escalated in recent weeks, with House Democrats cooling to an Israel stand-alone bill and saying aid to Ukraine is “more urgent.” McGovern previously said that Ukraine would run out of equipment by the end of April.
Iran’s missile strike against Israel on Saturday resurged calls for aid legislation. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said in a statement on Saturday the House’s schedule would be changed due to the attacks.
“The House will move from its previously announced legislative schedule next week to instead consider legislation that supports our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable,” he said, not offering specifics as to what the legislation will be.
He added that “more details on the legislative items to be considered will be forthcoming.”
In light of Iran’s unjustified attack on Israel, the House will move from its previously announced legislative schedule next week to instead consider legislation that supports our ally Israel and holds Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable.
The House of Representatives…
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) April 13, 2024
Rank-and-file Republicans are already pushing leadership to call a vote on aid as soon as possible.
Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) told Axios that the House should pass “full funding to Israel. Immediately.” Rep. Marc Lawler (R-NY) also told the outlet that Johnson “must bring forward a supplemental package of aid for Israel in order to support them in their time of need.”
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who faced severe backlash from his own party for his role in crafting and supporting the Senate supplemental package, said in a statement that the House should move forward on the upper chamber’s stalled legislation.
“The national security supplemental that has waited months for action will provide critical resources to Israel and our own military forces,” McConnell said.
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