House Republicans will approve aid to Ukraine after backing off the border request

Sign up for the Inside Washington daily email to get exclusive US coverage and analysis delivered to your inbox

Get our free Inside Washington email

House Republican leadership appears to be formally backing away from its demand that lawmakers address border security before passing any additional aid to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

This news came on Thursday at the House Republicans Resort in the presence of House Speaker Mike Johnson He tells reporters Bills related to funding both Ukrainian defense and the Israeli military effort against Hamas will be introduced separately in the coming weeks. There was no indication that Republicans would continue to shy away from the idea of ​​passing either without first reaching some sort of agreement on immigration reform or border security that could win approval from both chambers of Congress.

In December last year, Johnson made this request clear, telling the White House in a letter:[S]“Additional funding for Ukraine depends on enacting transformational change to our country’s border security laws.”

But legislation that would have at least made an effort to reach that “transformational change” died in the Senate after House Republicans made it clear that the bill, a bipartisan compromise reached by negotiators from both parties with the blessing of GOP leader Mitch McConnell, He died on the day of reaching the lower chamber. The legislation would have allowed President Joe Biden to shut down the US asylum admissions system if illegal border crossings exceed a certain threshold. Donald Trump's demand that Republicans repeal the bill to prevent his opponent from scoring a political victory in an election year is widely credited with the GOP opposition in the House.

Thursday's news is a reversal of Johnson's previous stance and a sign that he may face new resistance from the far right in the coming months.

One of his caucus members, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Most recently in January She said she would trigger a vote on a motion to remove Johnson from his position as president if a bill to fund the Ukrainian military comes up on the House floor.

“We can't finance Ukraine,” she told NBC News, adding that it was “absolutely verboten…a reason to evacuate.”

Johnson could face an uphill political battle if Ms. Greene or any other Republican files an eviction motion against him; The GOP majority in the House is now down to just five votes, thanks to the surprise resignation announcement of Rep. Ken Buck.