Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson informed that he does not currently plan to vote on the Senate-approved aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
He said this in a comment to journalist Jake Sherman.
"Of course not now. We are dealing with the appropriations process. We have immediate deadlines for implementation, and this is what the House is focused on now," the speaker commented.
Appropriation processes refer to funds allocated from centralized and decentralized sources to cover specific expenditures.
The day before, the US Senate voted for a separate bill on aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which provides $95.3 billion for the three countries. Of these, $60.06 billion is to support Ukraine. Before this vote, Johnson had already criticized the bill and questioned its passage.
Both houses of the US Congress (Senate and House of Representatives) must approve the legislation before President Joe Biden can sign it.
- US military aid to Ukraine was exhausted at the end of 2023. Last year in October, Joe Biden submitted a request to Congress for the allocation of $106 billion, of which more than $61 billion is intended for Ukraine, mostly for the purchase of weapons from the United States. The rest of the funds from the package were intended for Israel, aid to the Asia-Pacific region, humanitarian activities in the Gaza Strip, etc.
- However, the request was not approved due to political disputes. Then representatives of Congress and the White House began to work on the text of the bill, which, in particular, would contain the demand of Republicans to strengthen the security of the US borders to stop migration from Mexico. Already on February 7, he did not get the necessary 60 votes in the Senate.
- Subsequently, an alternative draft law appeared on the $95.34 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, of which $61 billion is for Ukraine.