Speaker Johnson sets out separate bills for foreign aid votes, with $60bn for Ukraine and $26bn for Israel

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson holds weekly press conference

Speaker Mike Johnson has released a much-anticipated series of foreign aid bills, teeing up the House of Representatives for a vote within days.

The supplemental security funding outline proposes $26.38bn in aid to Israel and $60.84bn in aid to Ukraine. Taiwan could also receive $8.12bn. Aid for each of the three countries will be voted on as a separate bill. The $94bn package has been Senate-approved since February and subsequently stalled by the GOP-led House. Voting is expected on Saturday.

In a text to House members, Mr Johnson said he will also introduce a fourth bill this week. That text will include the REPO Act, which aims to seize frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, and the TikTok divestment bill. It will also include “sanctions and other measures to confront Russia, China, and Iran,” the speaker wrote.

The push for aid comes in the wake of an Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend, which the US and eight other countries helped stop. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have been awaiting this bill as they face ammunition shortages and intense Russian attacks.

This release comes as Mr Johnson faces calls for his removal from far-right members of the House. Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie urged Mr Johnson to step down during a meeting of the House GOP Conference on Tuesday.

The call came after Mr Johnson said he was putting forth the foreign aid legislation.

“I am not concerned about this, I am going to do my job, and I think that’s what the American people expect of us,” the speaker said on Tuesday.

Last month, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene also filed a motion to remove him as Speaker after he allowed the House to vote on funding the federal government for the rest of the current fiscal year. Mr Massie has since said he would support her measure.

Several GOP representatives oppose funding Ukraine aid, meaning Mr Johnson will need Democratic backing to push them through.

More to come…

The Independent has always had a global perspective. Built on a firm foundation of superb international reporting and analysis, The Independent now enjoys a reach that was inconceivable when it was launched as an upstart player in the British news industry. For the first time since the end of the Second World War, and across the world, pluralism, reason, a progressive and humanitarian agenda, and internationalism – Independent values – are under threat. Yet we, The Independent, continue to grow.