Speaker Johnson Outlines New Path on National Security Funding
April 16, 2024House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is pressing forward with a new strategy to provide aid for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan amid increasing pressure to clinch a national security supplemental. Under the current plan, the House would call up each bucket of foreign aid as individual bills that largely align with the funding buckets contained in the Senate-passed national security package. A fourth bill would include a series of national security and foreign policy measures that would, among other things: (1) force divestiture of the social media app TikTok; (2) allow the U.S. to sell seized Russian assets; and (3) establish a new Lend Lease Act for military aid.
- Context & Next Steps. Speaker Johnson presented this plan to the House GOP conference yesterday with the hopes of winning over conservatives who are opposed to the Senate’s national security package, as well as those who are supportive of more funding for Ukraine. However, many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are withholding judgment until text of the four bills comes out. While leadership works to shore up support for this latest plan, changes to the House schedule are possible to accommodate additional votes.
- For today… The House will meet today to consider a bill out of the Financial Services Committee that would modify the authority of the President to waive restrictions on certain U.S. accounts of foreign financial institutions that have facilitated significant financial transactions on behalf of the Central Bank of Iran, certain Iranian financial institutions, or certain Iranian nationals. Lawmakers will also consider seven national-security focused suspension bills out of the Foreign Affairs Committee.