House Will Vote On A Ukraine Aid Bill, Johnson Says, But Specifics Still Hazy

Lawmakers want to add items in order to leave House GOP “impramateur” on bill, even as Ukraine runs through weapon supplies.

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The House will vote on a bill to provide much-needed weapons to Ukraine in its war with Russia, but the contours of such a bill still need to be worked out, according to a report.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), in an interview with Politico, said he expects aid to Ukraine and Israel would come to the floor either tied together or as two separate stand-alone bills.

“I think it is a stand-alone, and I suspect it will need to be on suspension,” Johnson was quoted as saying, referring to the floor process used where a bill requires two-thirds support in order to be approved.

Johnson was in West Virginia with his fellow House Republicans for an annual policy and politics retreat at the Greenbrier resort.

Johnson’s “stand-alone” phrasing, however, does not mean the bill would simply be an up or down vote on whether to provide, as President Joe Biden proposed, about $48 billion in military aid and another $8 billion or so in economic aid to help Kyiv pay its bills. It’s likely some other stuff would be in the package as well.