'Dead on arrival' in House: Speaker slams bill on Ukraine aid and U.S. border
Photo: Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson (Getty Images)
The Speaker of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, Mike Johnson, said that if the reported information about the content of the Senate legislation addressing the border with Mexico and aid to Ukraine is accurate, then the project to be "dead on arrival" in the House, reports The Hill.
Today, January 26, the American politician sent letters to his colleagues in which he responded to reports about the possible validity of the proposed provisions specified in the bill.
"I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border, since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement. If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway," Johnson wrote in a letter.
His letter came after separate signals from House leadership aides and "conservatives" in both the House and the Senate that the supplemental package is not going to pass even if it is approved by the Senate.
At this time, Republicans in the Senate are searching for an alternative plan on how to get aid to Ukraine. This is combined with negotiations on the resolution of the border crisis.
The leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, Steve Scalise, also repeated Johnson's thesis about the bill being "dead on arrival" to Republican chiefs of staff the day before.
Issues with US financial aid to Ukraine
Recall that in October 2023, US President Joe Biden submitted to Congress a $106 billion bill to help Israel and Ukraine, as well as allies in the Asia-Pacific region. Of this sum, 61.3 billion dollars were proposed to be allocated to Ukraine, and 14.3 billion dollars to Israel.
However, in December, the Senate blocked the start of debate on this Biden aid package. The reason was the demands of the Republicans to include in the bill a tougher set of measures to protect the southern border of the USA with Mexico.
Biden hopes that the Senate will develop an agreement on the US border with Mexico next week.
Earlier today, the Guardian wrote that Congress approved the text of the agreement on the US-Mexico border, which will depend on the renewal of funding for military aid to Ukraine. The text of the document is planned to be made public in the coming days.
