GOP had previously demanded Congress address US-Mexico border crossings before passing further foreign aid
House Republican leadership appears to be officially backing down from their demand for lawmakers to address border security before any further aid was passed to support Ukraine in its war against a Russian invasion.
The news was made on Thursday at the House Republican retreat, with Speaker Mike Johnson telling reporters that bills to further fund both Ukraine’s defence and Israel’s military effort against Hamas would be brought up separately in the coming weeks. There was no indication that Republicans would continue baulking at the idea of passing either of them without first striking some kind of deal on immigration reform or border security that could pass both chambers of Congress.
In December of last year, Mr Johnson had made that demand explicit, telling the White House in a letter: “[S]upplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws”.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
House Republican leadership appears to be officially backing down from their demand for lawmakers to address border security before any further aid was passed to support Ukraine in its war against a Russian invasion.
The news was made on Thursday at the House Republican retreat, with Speaker Mike Johnson telling reporters that bills to further fund both Ukraine’s defence and Israel’s military effort against Hamas would be brought up separately in the coming weeks.
In December of last year, Mr Johnson had made that demand explicit, telling the White House in a letter: “[S]upplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws”.
Donald Trump’s demand for Republicans to kill the bill to prevent his opponent from scoring a political victory in an election year is widely credited with much of the GOP opposition in the House.
One member of his caucus, Marjorie Taylor Greene, as recently as January said that she would trigger a vote on a motion to remove Mr Johnson from his position as speaker if he were to put a bill to fund Ukraine’s military on the House floor.
Mr Johnson could be in for a tough political fight if Ms Greene or another Republican brings a motion to vacate against him; the GOP’s majority in the House is now down to just five votes, thanks to the sudden resignation announcement of Rep Ken Buck.
The original article contains 398 words, the summary contains 235 words. Saved 41%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!