House Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he plans to move forward with four individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, separating out key components of a foreign aid package that has been shelved in the House for months, NBC News reported.
Johnson held a Monday evening conference with House Republicans to lay out the four bills: one to fund Israel, another for Ukraine, another for Taiwan and a fourth that would wrap several foreign policy proposals into one.
Johnson has faced a renewed push to end the monthslong stalemate on the $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which the Senate passed in February and has been sitting in the House ever since.
On Sunday, President Joe Biden spoke with Johnson, as well as Senate Majority Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“On the call, the President discussed the urgent need for the House of Representatives to pass the national security supplemental as soon as possible,” a statement from the White House following the call said.
The White House reiterated on Monday that Biden “will not accept a standalone” funding bill for aid to Israel.
“What we want to see is that bipartisan national security supplemental that passed overwhelmingly, 70-29 in the Senate, and we believe if the (House Speaker Mike Johnson) were to put that on the floor, it would pass overwhelmingly. And so that's what we want to see,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told CNN.
Biden has in recent months sought to approve a large package of aid to Israel, but Democrats and Republicans have clashed over the legislation.
In February, the House of Representatives failed to approve a Republican-led bill that would have provided $17.6 billion to Israel.
Democrats have rejected the measure, saying they want a vote instead on a broader measure that would also provide assistance to Ukraine, international humanitarian funding and new money for border security.
Opponents called the Israel legislation that was rejected a political ploy by Republicans to distract from their opposition to a $118 billion Senate bill which combines an overhaul of US immigration policy and new funding for border security with billions of dollars in emergency aid for Ukraine, Israel and partners in the Indo-Pacific region.