Republicans Turn on Mike Johnson Over Israel Aid Package

A number of Republicans have signaled their disagreement with Mike Johnson's plan to decouple Israel and Ukraine military aid amidst their respective wars with Hamas and Russia.

Under the new speaker, the House of Representatives seeks to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel. President Joe Biden had initially requested the House pass a $100 billion package that would have included aid for Israel, Ukraine and border security.

Johnson has in the past voted against aid for Ukraine and has said he wanted aid to Israel and Ukraine to be handled separately with more accountability for money sent to the Kyiv government.

The new bill will need bipartisan support to become law and will have to pass through the House and then the Senate with 60 votes.

But in the Senate, where there are 49 Republicans and 48 Democrats, some Republicans have publicly stated their opposition to the plan.

At an event on Monday at the University of Louisville's McConnell Center, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged support for Ukraine.

"Right now, loud voices on both sides of the aisle are suggesting that American leadership isn't worth the cost," McConnell said. "Some say our support for Ukraine comes at the expense of more important priorities, but as I've said every time I've got the chance, it's a false choice. America is a global superpower with global interests and enemies of democracy around the world like nothing more than to outlast our resolve to resist Russian aggression."

Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said it would be a "huge mistake" to separate the two.

"I support the package staying together. I think Secretary Blinken and Austin gave a good answer why we should not break it apart," he told reporters outside the hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee. "At the end of the day, I think all of these conflicts have to be dealt with strongly, and they should be dealt with together."

Graham again said the aid packages should remain together during an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican, also told CNN, "My view is that the substantial majority of members of the House, as well as the substantial majority of senators, support for Ukraine and Israel, combined."

Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she also favored a single effort to help Israel and Ukraine.

"Some have argued for decoupling funding to address these threats and focusing only on the Iranian-backed terrorists who massacred so many Israelis on October 7," Collins said at a committee meeting. "We must recognize that our national security interests are being aggressively challenged by all of these authoritarian actors in an effort to dismantle the international order that we established following World War II."

Newsweek reached out to the Republican Party via email for comment.

Prior to Johnson unveiling the plan, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Newsweek last week that he supported coupled aid in principle.

"I want funding for Ukraine. I want funding for Israel. I think if we put them together, we probably have a better opportunity," Tillis said.

"That, to me, appears to be the safest way to get it all done," he added. "If you start looking at how we're going to get votes together to support Ukraine and to Israel, you don't do those as individual packages."

House Speaker Johnson yesterday received a letter from a group of congressional Republicans and Democrats urging him to reconsider the plan.

"The United States must not shrink from the burdens of our responsibilities as we and our fellow democracies across the world face threats not seen in decades," said the letter, signed by three Democrats—Marcy Kaptur, Brad Schneider and Debbie Wasserman Schultz—and House Republican Joe Wilson.

The letter added: "We beseech you not to separate aid for Israel's fight to rescue its hostages and secure its borders from Ukraine's fight to do the same, or from Taiwan's efforts to deter a war."

However, not all Republicans are opposed to the plan.

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday: "Funding Ukraine has to stop. It's one big money laundering pit at the expense of the American people and Ukraine is not winning."

Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert wrote on X: "The Israel foreign aid bill is crafted brilliantly. $14.3 billion paid for from IRS funds. We can't spend unlimited money. We're $33 trillion in debt. The money has to come somewhere and it should come from the IRS which is being weaponized against the public.

"Now, Democrats can decide if they prefer helping our allies in Israel or targeting Americans with the IRS. I told you the Speaker Johnson era would be different."

Nevertheless, the opposition to the bill may prove difficult for Johnson.

President Biden yesterday threatened to veto it regardless of whether it passes through both chambers of Congress.

"In contrast to the President's national security package, this bill provides no aid whatsoever to Ukraine. This is an urgent requirement," the White House's Office of Management and Budget said.

The House Rules Committee is expected to consider the bill on Wednesday.

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