华盛顿-众议院议长·迈克·约翰逊正在与白宫谈判，为推进战时拨款的艰巨任务做准备乌克兰一名众议院共和党高层周四表示。
众议院共和党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯告诉记者，约翰逊一直在与白宫官员讨论一项一揽子计划，该计划将偏离参议院950亿美元的对外安全一揽子计划，并包括共和党的几项要求。此前，约翰逊已经推迟了为基辅提供急需弹药和武器的援助数月，试图寻找合适的时机推进一项将是痛苦的政治提升的一揽子计划。
斯卡利斯说:“还没有达成协议。”“显然，不仅需要与白宫达成协议，还需要与我们自己的成员达成协议。”
约翰逊，洛杉矶。共和党大会在支持乌克兰方面存在严重分歧，两位总统候选人在美国对世界其他地区的态度上存在分歧。美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)一再谴责共和党人没有帮助乌克兰，称他们在听从俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的命令，损害了美国的安全。同时，唐纳德·特朗普可能成为共和党候选人的特朗普曾表示，他将通过谈判结束冲突，努力推动美国采取更加孤立主义的立场。
这位共和党议长将于周五前往前总统在佛罗里达州的Mar-a-Lago俱乐部会见特朗普，并在最近几周就乌克兰资金问题向他咨询，以获得他的支持——或者至少阻止他公开反对该计划。
经常与众议院议员密切合作的俄克拉荷马州共和党参议员马克韦恩·穆林本周表示，他和特朗普已经与约翰逊就如何推进乌克兰援助进行了“深入”交谈。目前尚不清楚特朗普是否会提供任何政治支持，但穆林表示，他希望让这位前总统支持这一方案，尤其是现在约翰逊的工作岌岌可危。
佐治亚州共和党众议员马乔里·泰勒·格林(Marjorie Taylor Greene)威胁要试图取代约翰逊的议长职位，并警告称，为乌克兰提供资金将有助于她的主张，即共和党议员应该选择新的议长。
与此同时，约翰逊一直在与白宫就立法进行谈判，该立法将为基辅的部分资金提供贷款，为美国利用被冻结的俄罗斯央行资产铺平道路，并包括其他政策变化。
约翰逊还一直在推动拜登政府取消对液化天然气出口批准的暂停。有时，他还要求改变美国与墨西哥边境的政策。
支持援助乌克兰的共和党众议员唐·培根(Don Bacon)说，“随着俄罗斯进入基辅，这个世界变得更加危险。”“所以我们必须找到一个聪明的方法来通过一项法案，我们可以拿出来回到参议院。”
尽管如此，约翰逊仍然面临着一群强硬的众议院保守派的公开反对，他们对他领导众议院的方式感到不满。约翰逊以微弱和分裂的多数优势，被迫与民主党合作推进几乎任何重大立法。
众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯周四表示，众议院“唯一的前进道路”是就参议院的国家安全一揽子计划进行投票。他还暗示，如果约翰逊抓住议长的法槌，民主党人会帮助他。
虽然民主党人已经向约翰逊施压，要求他将参议院的一揽子计划付诸表决，但他们也可能在投票中出现分歧，因为越来越多的人反对在以色列在加沙发动袭击、造成数千名平民死亡的同时向以色列提供进攻性武器。
负责管理任何军事资金的拜登政府向以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡发出了严厉警告，称美国未来的支持取决于迅速实施保护平民和援助人员的新措施。
参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默周四在一次发言中表示:“如果我们想阻止普京在欧洲取得胜利，众议院应该为民主做正确的事情，现在就通过参议院的援助计划。”
House Speaker Mike Johnson is negotiating with White House to advance Ukraine aid
WASHINGTON --House Speaker Mike Johnson is negotiating with the White House as he prepares for the treacherous task of advancing wartime funding forUkraineand Israel through the House, a top House Republican said Thursday.
House Republican LeaderSteve Scalisetold reporters that Johnson had been talking with White House officials about a package that would deviate from the Senate’s $95 billion foreign security package and include several Republican demands. It comes after Johnson has delayed for months on advancing aid that would provide desperately needed ammunition and weaponry for Kyiv, trying to find the right time to advance a package that will be a painful political lift.
“There’s been no agreement reached,” Scalise said. “Obviously there would have to an agreement reached not just with the White House, but with our own members.”
Johnson, R-La., is being stretched between a Republican conference deeply divided in its support for Ukraine, as well as two presidential contenders at odds over the U.S.’s posture towards the rest of the world. President Joe Biden has repeatedly chastised Republicans for not helping Ukraine, saying they are doing the bidding of Russian President Vladimir Putin and hurting U.S. security. Meanwhile,Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican candidate, has said he would negotiate an end to the conflict as he tries to push the U.S. to a more isolationist stance.
The Republican speaker is set to travel to the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida on Friday to meet with Trump and has been consulting him in recent weeks on the Ukraine funding to gain his support — or at least prevent him from openly opposing the package.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican who often works closely with House lawmakers, said this week he and Trump have spoken with Johnson “in depth” about how to advance Ukraine aid. It is not clear whether Trump would lend any political support, but Mullin said he was hoping to get the former president behind the package, especially now that Johnson’s job is at stake.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, has threatened to try to oust Johnson as speaker and warned that advancing funding for Ukraine would help build her case that GOP lawmakers should select a new speaker.
Meanwhile, Johnson has been in conversations with the White House about legislation that would structure some of the funding for Kyiv as loans, pave the way for the U.S. to tap frozen Russian central bank assets and include other policy changes.
Johnson has also been pushing for the Biden administration to lift a pause on approvals for Liquefied Natural Gas exports. At times, he has also demanded policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.
“This becomes a more dangerous world with Russia in Kyiv,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican who supports aiding Ukraine. “So we’re just got to find a the smart way to get a bill passed that we can get out and back to the Senate.”
Still, Johnson is facing a practically open rebellion from a group of hardline House conservatives who are dissatisfied with the way he has led the House. With a narrow and divided majority, Johnson has been forced to work with Democrats to advance practically any major legislation.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Thursday that the “only path forward” for the House was a vote on the Senate’s national security package. He also suggested that Democrats would help Johnson hold onto the speaker’s gavel if he did so.
While Democrats have pressured Johnson to put the Senate package to a vote, they also may be divided on a vote as a growing number oppose sending Israel offensive weaponry while it engages in a campaign in Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians.
The Biden administration, which would administer any military funding, has issued stern warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. support depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
“If we want to prevent handing Putin a victory in Europe, the House should do the right thing for democracy and pass the Senate’s aid package now,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday in a floor speech.
