Speaker Johnson Will Unveil Ukraine Aid Bill

(AP)

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has promised to bring up Ukraine aid in the House when Congress returns from recess.

However, what the bill will look like remains a mystery, since both parties remain divided on both aid to Ukraine and aid to Israel.

Although the Senate passed a bill funding aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in February, Johnson has said the House will move forward with its own version.

Johnson has said that he would possibly split Ukraine and Israel aid into separate packages so each can be voted on separately.

Other ideas include making some Ukraine aid into a loan, confiscating seized Russian assets in order to fund the reconstruction of Ukraine, and lifting the Biden administration’s block on new liquefied natural gas export projects.

Even some Republican lawmakers said they haven’t seen the bill’s final text.

Certain members of the House GOP want no more money spent on Ukraine aid, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who filed a motion to vacate the speaker’s chair in March. Greene said this week that higher priorities should include spending cuts and border security

“Here we are $34 trillion in debt and every 100 days we gain another trillion, and we’re going to send another $60 billion to Ukraine,” she said. “For what?”

Johnson has said he may bring up the bill under suspension of the rules, which would require a two-thirds supermajority to pass it.

Johnson has also pitched for the REPO Act to potentially be included, so that billions of dollars in frozen Russian central bank reserves could be used to help pay for Ukraine aid. However, this likely could not replace Western assistance entirely, because of the European Union’s legal complexities, and that is where most of the money is being held.

Regarding the idea of turning part of the aid into a loan, Johnson told Fox News, “We’re not just giving foreign aid; we are setting up in our relationship where they can provide it back to us when the time is right.”

Others are pushing the House to renew a lend-lease system for Ukraine, modeled after a program during World War II that allowed the U.S. to lend or lease weapons to the U.K. and Soviet Union. The previous authority to expedite leasing or loaning military equipment to Ukraine expired in September.

Johnson may also decide to link Ukraine aid to potentially reversing the Biden administration’s new rule freezing permits for new liquefied gas projects. The White House reportedly continues to support the pause and believes the House should pass the Senate bill.