April 18, 2024 (EIRNS)—President Joe Biden has endorsed a proposal by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to move Biden’s $95 billion war budget, which has been stalled in the House for six months. “The House must pass the package this week, and the Senate should quickly follow,” Biden said. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”
Johnson has proposed to hold votes on three funding packages—to provide about $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and $8 billion to allies in the Indo-Pacific—as well as several other foreign policy proposals in a fourth bill, reported AP. The bulk of the money for Ukraine would go to purchasing weapons and munitions from U.S. defense manufacturers. Johnson is also proposing that $9 billion of economic assistance for Kyiv be structured as forgivable loans, along with greater oversight on military aid, but, AP notes, the decision to support Ukraine at all has angered populist conservatives in the House and given new energy to a threat to remove Johnson from the Speaker’s office.
Johnson told reporters that votes on the package are expected April 20, Saturday evening, but he faces a treacherous path to get there. That includes getting Democratic support for the procedural maneuvers to the separate votes, then navigating the political splits in the House to put the three packages back together, says AP. And the effort to oust him, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), is said to be picking up steam after being joined by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).
