'This is a big crisis': House Republicans clash with their fellow lawmakers over Israel, Ukraine aid

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are increasingly split over whether to tie foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel together in one congressional package, revealing the significant hurdles any new military assistance legislation or foreign aid has in Congress.

House Republicans are teed up to push through standalone legislation providing assistance to Israel sometime this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”

While there are “lots of things going on around the world,” Johnson said, “what’s happening in Israel takes the immediate attention.”

A top House Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul R-Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told “Fox News Sunday” he also thought Israel and Ukraine aid should be taken up in separate packages.

“I think what we want to do is really because the need is so urgent now in Israel, is to start with Israel first ... as a separate measure,” McCaul said.

Johnson and McCaul’s support for splitting aid to Israel and Ukraine sets up a direct clash with the White House and Senate, which have both shown support for approving aid to the two key U.S. allies together.

President Joe Biden requested Congress pass over $100 billion in supplemental national security funding, mainly aimed at supporting Israel and Ukraine but also reinforcing security at the southern border.

In the Senate, while a handful of conservative GOP senators are pushing back against a combined foreign aid package, leadership has indicated strong support for keeping military support for Israel and Ukraine in one bill.

“I do think (foreign aid) needs to be comprehensive. I think it needs to do with all of these because they’re all interrelated,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said at a weekly press conference Tuesday. “What we have now is an axis of evil: China, Russia and Iran ... This is a big crisis. It needs to be confronted by the most important democracy in the world.”

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said he would support a foreign aid package to Israel and Ukraine either way “that we can actually get at this point,” underscoring the unclear road ahead for any new military assistance.

“Israel, we’ve got to be able to respond quickly on. The other areas, we’ve got to be able to resolve to make sure we’re securing the United States while we’re also securing other countries as well,” Lankford said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel and Ukraine aid to set up clash between House Republicans, Senate