Gingrich backs Johnson on Israel-only aid package: ‘Great start for the new Speaker’

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) is backing newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) plans to move forward on an emergency aid package for Israel, but not Ukraine.

Johnson has suggested a separate vote should be held on additional funding for Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia. And he has said aid to both Israel and Ukraine should be offset with spending cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

“Speaker Mike Johnson made exactly the right decision to bring up the aid for Israel by itself without tying it to anything else. It is also very encouraging that he is going to offset the aid for Israel with spending cuts to start cutting the deficit and fighting inflation,” Gingrich wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Great start for the new Speaker,” he added.

The House is slated to consider a stand-alone Israel funding bill this week as it ramps up its ground operations in the Gaza Strip against the militant group Hamas. Johnson outlined the package during an appearance on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” over the weekend.

“We believe that that is a pressing and urgent need. There are lots of things going on around the world that we have to address,” he said. “And we will. But, right now, what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention. And I think we have got to separate that and get it through.”

President Biden sent Congress a $100 billion supplementary budget request earlier this month, which includes some $60 billion for Ukraine and about $14 billion for Israel, along with money for Taiwan and U.S. border security.

Many Republicans on the far right are outright opposed to additional funding for Ukraine, while even some Ukraine supporters have expressed skepticism about linking additional funds with aid for Israel.

However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has backed a joint package for Israel and Ukraine, setting up an early battle with Johnson.

There is broad support in both parties for emergency aid to Israel, with only a small group of progressives expressing reservations about U.S. support for Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.

In a meeting with Biden at the White House, Johnson suggested the president should split his bundled request.

Gingrich has been critical of House Republicans over the past few weeks as the GOP conference struggled to unite behind a Speaker candidate before electing Johnson to the top spot last week.

The former Speaker warned that House Republicans faced a “very real danger” of electing a Speaker and then in a few weeks going “back into the same mess.”