House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is suggesting an ambitious deadline for the chamber to approve Ukraine aid, encouraging GOP leaders to deliver a Senate-passed foreign aid package to President Biden by the end of next week.
“We have to get the bipartisan national security bill over the finish line before we leave town next Friday, March 22 — before we leave town,” Jeffries said Wednesday during a press briefing in the Capitol. “It’s reckless to do otherwise.”
As the leader of the minority party, Jeffries has almost no power to control what legislation is considered for a vote. While Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has voiced support for more Ukraine aid, he opposes the $95 billion foreign aid package that passed through the Senate last month, with 70 senators supporting the legislation, including 22 Republicans.
Nevertheless, as the deadlock persists, pressure on Johnson to take action on some form of Ukraine aid before November’s elections is increasing.
Several prominent GOP committee heads have emphasized the importance of providing more military support to Kyiv amid recent Russian advances. A few Republicans, led by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), have launched a discharge petition aimed at compelling GOP leaders to bring Ukraine aid to the floor as a “pressure point.”
On Tuesday, Polish President Andrzej Duda met with congressional leaders, including Johnson, to deliver warnings that a Russian victory in Ukraine would put Poland in the crosshairs next.
Jeffries was quick to emphasize Duda’s message on Wednesday, warning that a Russian invasion of a NATO ally would likely lead to increased U.S. involvement, putting American troops in danger.
“We cannot allow Ukraine to be taken over by Russia, as American lives are likely to be at stake — unless we were to believe that if Putin wins in Ukraine, he stops there, when he didn’t stop in Georgia, and he didn’t stop in Crimea,” Jeffries said.
“Breaking news: He’s not stopping in Ukraine, if he’s allowed to be successful. And in that neighborhood, it’s filled with NATO allies, including Poland, which is one of the reasons why President Duda was so strongly supportive of ensuring continued support for the Ukrainian effort.”
After meeting with Duda, Johnson praised Poland as “one of America’s key NATO allies” and “a strategic partner in promoting a free and prosperous future and in advocating for greater defense spending by our European partners.”
“In an increasingly dangerous world with growing threats, America must remain united with our friends against those who threaten our security,” Johnson said in a statement.
The Speaker is insisting that any new foreign aid be accompanied by House-passed measures to limit migration on the southern border — provisions that are unacceptable to Democrats in Congress and the White House.
The deadlock has raised significant questions about how, or if, Johnson plans to advance more Ukraine aid through the House, where several conservatives oppose additional Ukraine aid and want Washington to focus its attention on domestic issues — a more isolationist stance also supported by former President Trump as he campaigns for another term in the White House.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) started a second discharge petition this week to force a vote on the Senate Ukraine bill over the objections of Johnson and his leadership team in an effort to break the deadlock.
Jeffries pointed out that McGovern’s petition has already gotten almost 180 signatures, while Fitzpatrick’s petition.
has only 14. “That’s not dueling discharge petitions,” he said. “It’s a reaffirmation that the only clear path is to put the bipartisan, comprehensive Senate-passed bill on the House floor for an up-or-down vote. And it will pass overwhelmingly with Democrats and Republicans.
“That is the only path forward.”
Jeffries’s target date of March 22 aligns directly with the deadline for the remaining six bills to fund the government through the remainder of fiscal year 2024. As both debates evolve, some lawmakers have suggested including some form of Ukraine aid in the “omnibus” spending package. Johnson, however, has said preventing a shutdown should be Congress’s first priority.
“The House is actively considering options on a path forward [on Ukraine],” Johnson said late last month, “but our first responsibility is to fund the government.”
