Biden encourages Congress to pass Johnson’s foreign aid plan in departure from previous stance

President Joe Biden urged both chambers of Congress to pass House Speaker Mike Johnson’s three-pronged foreign aid plan on Wednesday, in a departure from his previous insistence that both chambers pass the Senate’s package.

Johnson released the legislative texts of three separate bills earlier Wednesday that would provide aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region. The bills are separate from the Senate’s single $95 billion plan.

“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” Biden said in a statement. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”

Earlier in the week, the White House voiced opposition to stand-alone aid for Israel.

Biden said the plan provided “critical” aid to Israel and Ukraine amid recent escalations in their conflicts with Iran and Russia. Iran launched missiles at Israel on Saturday, after it blamed the Middle Eastern country for an airstrike that killed seven of its soldiers. 

He also highlighted the need to send humanitarian aid to Palestine, and help boost the Indo-Pacific region as Taiwan and Japan face increased threats from China and North Korea.

Johnson is also expected to bring a fourth bill to the House floor that includes the REPO for Ukraine act, sanctions on China, Ukraine, and Russia, and a ban on the social media app TikTok, which is owned by a Beijing-based company called ByteDance.

The announcement marks the latest attempt at cooperation between the president and the Republican-led House. Congress and Biden were also forced to compromise last month in order to keep the federal government operational and avoid a shutdown.