Speaker Mike Johnson introduced plans Monday night to place ahead 4 separate payments to handle international assist funding, together with to Israel and Ukraine.

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Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

Speaker Mike Johnson introduced plans Monday night to place ahead 4 separate payments to handle international assist funding, together with to Israel and Ukraine.

Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images

House Speaker Mike Johnson has introduced a path ahead on assist to Ukraine and Israel after months of delay due to GOP divisions. Iran’s unprecedent attack on Israel over the weekend elevated strain on Congress to behave.

Johnson plans to deliver ahead three separate payments on funding for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. A fourth nationwide safety invoice would seemingly embody a provision that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the U.S.

Lawmakers say there’s renewed urgency in passing the help to Israel after Saturday’s assault.

“My phone melted over the weekend, you know, with all the members letting me know all their ideas,” Johnson instructed reporters after the closed-door assembly together with his members Monday night. “It really was the will of my colleagues to vote on these measures independently and not have them all sandwiched together, as the Senate had done.”

Top congressional Democrats, President Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell had known as on the House to swiftly vote on the Senate-passed $95 billion foreign aid package that mixes assist for Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. But that has lengthy been a no-go within the House, the place numerous GOP members stay deeply against additional funding for Ukraine.

“The Ukraine piece is — clearly on the Republican side — the most controversial one, the one that has the most difference of opinion,” Johnson mentioned Monday.

Next steps for the House

Timing of the House vote stays to be seen. House GOP guidelines require 72 hours to overview laws, which Johnson mentioned he would honor.

“That probably means that if we get bill text sometime early tomorrow — that’s the hope, that’s the ambition — then that probably puts us into perhaps Friday evening [for votes],” he mentioned. “We’ll have to see how the clock works.”

The proposal drew early indicators of help from members.

“It’s the right way in which the House should function,” mentioned Republican New York Rep. Marc Molinaro. “The speaker wants four votes, four measures. Everybody can vote their conscience, vote their constituency, and then defend their position.”

Oklahoma Rep. Kevin Hern, who’s the chair of the Republican Study Committee, instructed reporters he thinks Johnson is “doing the right thing.”

Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, instructed reporters he thinks it is a “good strategy” to separate the bundle into 4 distinct payments.

It’s unclear how the 4 payments can be despatched to the Senate. It’s potential they may very well be despatched as particular person payments or as one bundle.

The risk to oust Johnson

Hanging over Johnson’s head is the specter of a transfer to oust him as speaker from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Greene had beforehand indicated that if Johnson had been to deliver up a vote on assist to Ukraine alone, which she vehemently opposes, she would transfer ahead on her motion to vacate.

As she left the assembly, Greene blasted the proposal. “People are not going to like any of this,” she mentioned, including she sees it as “the wrong direction for Speaker Johnson and our country.”

Greene instructed reporters she remains to be contemplating whether or not to drive a vote on eradicating Johnson as speaker.

“A motion to vacate is such a serious issue — it should be handled responsibly, not just, you know, willy-nilly,” she mentioned.

When requested about the specter of his removing, Johnson instructed reporters he is undecided “how that shakes out.”

“I don’t spend my time worrying about motions to vacate. We’re having to govern here and we’re going to do our job,” he mentioned.