Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday on Fox News the Ukraine bill might be “broken up” from the border funding following a recent meeting with the White House.
Johnson appeared on “The Ingraham Angle” to discuss the ongoing southern border crisis and the barriers to pushing through a deal to fix the issues. House Republicans previously blocked Ukraine funding late last year, demanding border security be addressed as a condition to giving the country any more aid.
Fox host Laura Ingraham questioned the House Speaker’s support of a joint bill, claiming the American people are not on board with giving more “money to Ukraine.” (RELATED: Speaker Johnson Says Congress Can’t Pass ‘Comprehensive’ Immigration Reform Right Now Because It’s Too ‘Complicated’)
“If [you’re] desperate to get money to Ukraine, again, the American people aren’t for that … but if you guys all want to do that, do a Ukraine bill standalone. Why tie that to our border?” Ingraham questioned.
Following a meeting with the White House in which Johnson doubled down on the GOP’s border stance, the House Speaker said Ukraine is being used as “leverage” in order to have Democrats meet their requirements. However, Johnson admitted the deals “may indeed be broken up” depending on the development of the proposals.
“Well — Ukraine is leveraged to get [the] border [deal]. But to your point, they may indeed be broken up. We’ll see how it all develops. Again, the devil is going to be in the details on all these proposals,” Johnson stated.
“But what’s happening in Ukraine is not acceptable. The status quo is not acceptable. We’ve sent billions of dollars over there without any clear articulation of the strategy. And I’ve been telling the White House this as well. What is the strategy? What’s the endgame? How do we have accountability?”
Johnson continued to say GOP House members have been “pressing” the White House daily to get answers to “critical questions” that are “owed” to the American people. The House Speaker highlighted that while the White House has continued to ask for “more billions” in aid, they have allegedly not provided “the assistance that has been needed.” (RELATED: Democratic Leaders Praise Latest Continuing Resolution)
“We’ve been pressing the White House every day for answers to critical questions the American people are owed. And we have to know that. We have to know strategy, end-game … how does Ukraine get out of that conflict. Why aren’t the critical weapons systems that have been requested and necessary to push Russia back been supplied by the White House?” Johnson questioned.
“I mean, I met with President Zelensky when he was in town last … and he said they haven’t gotten the weapons system they asked for. So, in other words, the White House is not even providing the assistance that has been needed and yet they’re asking for more billions? There’s a lot of work yet — here to be done and I understand the frustration of the American people, we share it as well.”
Both Republican and Democrat lawmakers have attempted to work on a deal for the joint bill addressing the border crisis and Ukraine funding. However, with the deadline scheduled for Jan. 19, details of the bill have been tossed around as the southern border approaches record high numbers of illegal immigrants crossing.
At the beginning of the year, the U.S. announced a new $3.1 billion security assistance package for Ukraine, providing dozens of heavy infantry vehicles in the deal for the first time, according to a White House press release. The new addition to Ukraine funding comes after the U.S. committed over $44.9 billion in security assistance since President Biden took office, according to the Department of Defense.