Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) credited Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) “real leadership” for his efforts to decouple aid to Israel and Ukraine.
“We are going to move to a stand-alone Israeli funding bill,” Johnson said on Sunday.
“This is a big deal. Credit to the new speaker for showing real leadership here,” Vance wrote.
The House will return on Wednesday, where the legislative body will consider potential Ukraine and Israel funding.
President Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wish to pass a supplemental aid package with Israel and Ukraine aid funding, putting Johnson at odds with the Senate and the Biden White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, center, walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) right, at Capitol Hill on September 21, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Johnson hopes to offset the cost of the $14 billion in aid to Israel.
The Biden administration hopes to secure $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, and many Senate Republicans realize that this proposal to tie Ukraine aid to Israel aid could be their last chance to aid Ukraine’s protracted conflict with Russia.
“We don’t have enough [industrial base] capacity to support a three-front war. We’ve got to focus, and I think we should be focusing on Israel and Taiwan,” Vance said on Sunday.
WATCH — McConnell Sides with Biden on Bundling Ukraine, Israel Aid: “I View it as All Interconnected”:
The Biden White House recently argued that the two proposed aid packages are inherently linked.
“Like President Biden said when he addressed the nation from the Oval Office, Hamas and Putin both want to viciously annihilate a neighboring democracy. In fact, Russian officials met with Hamas representatives in Moscow just this week,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement.
“For American national security, it is critical to stand with Israel as they defend themselves against Hamas terrorists who unleashed pure evil on October 7th; and to stand with Ukraine as they defend themselves against Russian brutality — carried out in part with Iranian weapons — and Russia’s kidnapping of Ukrainian children,” he continued.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.