Speaker Johnson: ‘House is actively considering options’ on foreign aid

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Thursday said “the House is actively considering options” for foreign aid, days after President Biden and other congressional leaders implored him to move on assistance for Ukraine during a meeting at the White House.

“The House is actively considering options on a path forward, but our first responsibility is to fund the government,” Johnson said at a press conference when asked about the future of foreign aid, referring to the effort to stave off a partial shutdown by Friday’s deadline.

When pressed on the topic of Ukraine after the press conference, Johnson told reporters that “the House is looking at all available options right now, and we’ll address that as soon as the government is funded.” 

Johnson huddled with Biden and top congressional leaders — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) — at the White House on Tuesday to discuss efforts to fund the government and pass the stalled foreign aid package.

The meeting, according to participants, grew “intense” at some points, with Schumer saying the discussion about Ukraine “was one of the most intense” Oval Office meetings he has been in. Biden, Schumer, McConnell and Jeffries have all been vocally supportive of sending additional aid to Ukraine, underscoring that the beleaguered U.S. ally needs immediate assistance.

The Senate approved a $95 billion bill earlier this month that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but conservatives and Johnson have thrown cold water on the legislation, criticizing it for a lack of border security policy.

Johnson for months has said any aid for Ukraine must be paired with border security, arguing that the U.S. should address its own border and national security before sending assistance overseas. But earlier this month, he rejected a Senate bill that included a bipartisan border security agreement, saying it was dead on arrival in the House because the border provisions did not go far enough.

During an interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Wednesday, Johnson said he agreed with news reports that said participants at the White House meeting ganged up on him.

“Their reports are pretty accurate. They said that I was on an island by myself, and it was me versus everyone else in the room,” Johnson said, adding that he “reminded the president and all involved that the No. 1 issue in America is that open border, the catastrophe we have that President Biden himself designed.”

On Thursday, the Speaker reiterated his position that the U.S. must first address the situation at the border before sending more aid to Ukraine.

“Our primary, overriding responsibility has been for the last three years … to secure the border,” Johnson said.

“If we’re gonna fix everything around the world, we got to fix America first, we got to focus on America’s security,” he later added. “And I don’t think there’s an American out there who disagrees with that. It is inexcusable. The president has not taken action on the border, and we’re gonna continue to insist on that every single day.”

Republicans have hounded the Senate to take up their border bill, H.R. 2, which the chamber approved last year. Senate Democrats, however, have declared it dead on arrival. They have also called on Biden to use his executive authority to address the situation at the southern border.

Asked on Thursday if he is being too strident by demanding action on H.R. 2, Johnson laid out the specific policies he wants to see enacted, including Remain in Mexico, reforms to asylum and the parole process and building a wall.

“It doesn’t matter to me what you call the legislation, H.R. 2 was the measure that we passed 11 months ago, right. It’s the components of H.R. 2 that matter,” he told reporters.

“The reason the components of H.R. 2 were so important is because … they’re like interlocking pieces,” he added. “You need multiple pieces of this or you will not stop the flow.”

He later said, “I’m not wed to H.R. 2, it’s the components that are going to fix it. That is the problem.”

Johnson said Republicans are “so insistent, doggedly determined to get those provisions through.”

“We’re looking at all options, every option. We’re gonna continue to press this,” he added.