McCaul says Ukraine aid vote ‘is a Speaker determination’

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Sunday that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) must decide whether to hold a vote on Ukraine aid but that he plans to talk to the Speaker and other national security officials later this evening.

In an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation,” moderator Margaret Brennan asked McCaul about House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) recent statement that the House would consider legislation this week to support Israel. Brennan asked whether Scalise was referring to the national security supplemental package, which includes aid for Ukraine as well as Israel.

“That is a Speaker determination. I will be speaking, talking to him, this evening with other national security people and chairs,” McCaul said.

McCaul said he has a “commitment” from Johnson on getting a vote on Ukraine aid and that he hopes the vote is this week.

“I have a commitment that will come to the floor, my preference is … this week,” he said.

McCaul stressed the urgency of the situation in Ukraine and said he needs to educate his colleagues in the House about the inextricable link between aiding Israel and aiding Ukraine.

“I talked to the ambassador, our ambassador to Ukraine as well. She said the situation is dire. You know, Kharkiv could implode any day now. That’s 2 million people. And the power grid is under threat right now. If the power grid goes out in Ukraine altogether, we don’t have time on our side here, Margaret,” he said.

“We have to get this done … They’re all tied together. Yes. I mean, Iran is selling this stuff to Russia. Guess who’s buying Iran’s energy? China. And you know why? Because we lifted or waive the sanctions that we had, this administration, on the drones and the missiles and on the energy, this has given them $100 billion in cash to fund their terror operations. And that’s why we’re seeing this,” he said.