Johnson calls to ‘bifurcate’ funding for Ukraine, Israel

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) called on President Biden to split his $100 billion supplementary budget request between aid for Ukraine and Israel amid concerns that Republicans would not support a Ukraine package.

“I told the staff at the White House today that our consensus among House Republicans is that we need to bifurcate those issues,” Johnson said Thursday in an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity.

Biden’s budget request includes $14 billion to support Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza and $61 billion for Ukraine’s defense against Russia, alongside funding for U.S. border security and support for Taiwan.

Ukraine has been an increasingly controversial issue among House Republicans, who fought to keep Ukraine funding out of the continuing resolution passed at the end of September to keep the government running.

Johnson said he still supports the Ukrainian war effort versus Russia, but that the House should focus on limiting spending.

“Now, we can’t allow Vladimir Putin to prevail in Ukraine, because I don’t believe it would stop there, and it would probably encourage and empower China to perhaps make a move on Taiwan. We have these concerns,” Johnson said.

“We’re not going to abandon them. But we have a responsibility, a stewardship responsibility, over the precious treasure of the American people,” he continued. “And we have to make sure that the White House is providing the people with some accountability for the dollars.”

He also criticized the Biden administration’s plan for the Ukraine war effort, saying the White House has not provided what the “endgame” is for continued support.

Johnson said the House will propose a stand-alone $14 billion spending bill to assist Israel, matching the White House request. A group of GOP senators introduced a bill to do the same in the Senate on Thursday.

Israel has received strong bipartisan support for its war against Hamas, which was sparked early this month after 1,400 Israelis were killed in a surprise attack on mostly civilians.

“One thing that House Republicans are resolved on is that we must stand with our most important ally in the Middle East, and that’s Israel. We will,” Johnson said. “We certainly hope that it doesn’t come to boots on the ground.”

But funding is key at the end of the day, he said.

“We deeply care and are concerned about all nations of free people around the world, but we have to take care of our own house first, and so that’s also part of this delicate calculation and the decision.”