Speaker Johnson rolls out text for foreign aid package despite conservative outcry

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) released the legislative text Wednesday for three bills that would combine military assistance to Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Indo-Pacific with humanitarian aid for Gaza and other global hot spots — a high-stakes moment for the Speaker as he barrels into the politically prickly topic of sending aid overseas.

The trio of bills are part of his plan for moving foreign aid through the House, a process that has been delayed for months amid other pressing priorities and stalled this week as his initial proposal faced intense backlash from the right flank.

But Johnson, facing pressure from lawmakers in both parties, the White House and Ukrainian officials, vowed to move forward with his proposal, defying the outrage from his right flank.

Johnson told GOP lawmakers in a text message Wednesday morning that he also plans to unveil text for a fourth bill that includes other national security priorities designed to sweeten the deal for wary conservatives in his conference. That proposal will include a TikTok ban, a provision to help pay for aid by using seized Russian assets, sanctions and other measures to confront Russia, China and Iran.

Those four measures will move under one procedural rule that will allow for an amendment process, Johnson said.

But in a twist from the Speaker’s initial plan, the outline of which he unveiled Monday night, Johnson said he will move a border security measure separate from the foreign aid bills — a decision that is meant to appease conservatives who were up in arms that the priority was at first excluded. That legislation will include “core components” from H.R. 2, the border security bill House Republicans approved last year, he told members.

Johnson said he is eyeing a Saturday evening vote on the foreign aid legislation.

“By posting text of these bills as soon as they are completed, we will ensure time for a robust amendment process. We expect the vote on final passage on these bills to be on Saturday evening. Thank you all for your feedback and support. I value every Member of this conference and look forward to continuing our work together,” he wrote in the text message to lawmakers before the legislation was made public.

But if Johnson’s revisions were designed to mollify restive conservatives, there were early signs that it didn’t work. Indeed, before the bill texts were even released, a number of conservatives — who were already furious with the Speaker for cutting a series of bipartisan deals with President Biden — began sounding off against his foreign aid proposal. At the center of the criticisms was the border issue, which Republicans see as one of the greatest threats to national security. 

Johnson had promised for months that tougher border security would be a part of any Ukraine legislation. But the plan he announced Monday excluded any border measures, and his revised strategy — while featuring a vote on border provisions — also divorces that language from the foreign aid package that’s expected to go to the Senate, meaning the Democratic leaders who control the upper chamber can simply ignore.

Conservative border hawks wasted no time hammering Johnson for caving on his demand to marry Ukraine aid to tougher border policies.

“The Republican Speaker of the House is seeking a rule to pass almost $100 billion in foreign aid — while unquestionably,  dangerous criminals, terrorists, & fentanyl pour across our border. The border “vote” in this package is a watered-down dangerous cover vote. I will oppose,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote on the social platform X.

“News flash for Speaker Johnson, we have already passed HR2, the Senate has it and refuses to secure our border, they want 5,000 illegals per day to come in,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote in a post on X, later adding, “You are seriously out of step with Republicans by continuing to pass bills dependent on Democrats.”

“Everyone sees through this.”

The conservative outcry was not unexpected, but it means Johnson will need Democratic support to move at least some of the foreign aid bills through the lower chamber.

Democrats have been open to Johnson’s multipronged approach, even as it broke with the single-package strategy they preferred. But Johnson’s inclusion of almost $9.2 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza, Ukraine and other war zones around the globe — aid opposed by many Republicans — was a nod to the bipartisan support he’ll need to move the bills to the Senate.

In a signal that Democrats will be on board, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, endorsed the first three bills shortly after GOP leaders unveiled them.

“We cannot retreat from the world stage under the guise of putting ‘America First.’ We put America first by demonstrating the power of American leadership – that we have the strength, resolve, and heart to fight for the most vulnerable people, protect their freedom, and preserve their dignity,” DeLauro said in a statement, which emphasized the inclusion of the humanitarian aid.

“I urge swift passage of these bills.”

Updated at 1:22 p.m. ET