Speaker Mike Johnson is telling his House Republican Conference members that he is not rushing to respond to a bill sending aid to Ukraine and Israel, as GOP lawmakers weigh their options for how to handle the Senate-passed package.
Johnson told his members at a closed-door meeting Wednesday that there’s “no rush” in deciding how to handle foreign aid, according to GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and did not tip his hand on how he plans to proceed other than making clear he would not put the Senate package on the House floor in its current form.
Some rank-and-file members are drawing up their own proposals.
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania said he has been drafting a bipartisan plan to provide aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the border, which he plans to release in the next 24 to 48 hours and brief the speaker on. He said it will include a border security component, but not HR 2, the conservative Republican-led set of border policy changes that the House passed last year, and military aid for Ukraine, but not humanitarian assistance.
“You see the conference that we have right now, this is this is essentially a coalition government at this point,” Fitzpatrick said of his strategy to work with Democrats on a plan.
While Fitzpatrick said he personally would have supported the Senate version, he recognizes it doesn’t have wide support in the House.
Fitzpatrick also said Johnson told members during a closed-door meeting that he has asked for a meeting with President Joe Biden on foreign aid but has so far denied the request.
GOP Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas also echoed support for rewriting the foreign aid package so that it only includes military aid for Ukraine, adding the GOP needs to a better job of messaging that a large…
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