GOP speaker says House won’t be ‘rushed’ to approve bill with aid for Israel, Ukraine

WASHINGTON — Republican Speaker Mike Johnson says the US House will not feel “rushed” to pass the $95.3 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, signaling a further stall over sending military hardware and munitions Kyiv badly needs to fight Russia.

Johnson made the remarks behind closed doors at a morning meeting of House Republicans, who are largely aligned with Donald Trump, the party’s presidential front-runner, in opposing the Senate-passed foreign assistance for Ukraine’s fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

The speaker let colleagues know that the House will instead “work its will,” in considering the package, says a person familiar with the private remarks and granted anonymity to discuss them.

“The Republican-led House will not be jammed or forced into passing a foreign aid bill,” Johnson says at a press conference afterward.

Johnson, who rejected a border security compromise that was eventually stripped from the final product, says the Senate’s package “does nothing” to secure the US-Mexico border, which has been the GOP’s priority.

He says he requested a meeting with US President Joe Biden months ago on these issues, and was still waiting for the opportunity to talk one-on-one.

The White House suggests that Johnson is in no position for productive talks after Republicans demanded that border security be attached to the national security aid and then he rejected the bipartisan package approved by the Senate.