Biden is summoning congressional leaders to the White House to talk Ukraine and government funding
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will convene the top four leaders of Congress at the White House on Tuesday to pressure lawmakers on passing a relief package for Ukraine and Israel and avert a looming government shutdown next month, according to a report White House official.
The top four leaders include House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
During the meeting, the president will discuss the “urgency” of passing the relief package, which has bipartisan support, as well as legislation to keep the federal government operational through the end of September, said the White House official, who was granted anonymity. discussing a meeting that has not yet been publicly confirmed.
The Republican-led House of Representatives is under pressure to pass the $95 billion national security package that boosts aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. That legislation cleared the Senate on a 70-29 vote earlier this month, but Johnson has resisted bringing the relief bill to a vote in the House of Representatives.
“This is one of those cases where one person can change the course of history. Speaker Johnson, if he puts this bill on the floor, would deliver a strong, bipartisan majority in favor of aid to Ukraine,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. .
Sullivan emphasized that Ukrainians need weapons and ammunition to repel Russian forces, and that in his personal conversations with the speaker he “has indicated that he would like to get the funding for Ukraine.”
Regardless of the national security package, the first tranche of government financing expires on Friday. The rest of the federal government, including agencies like the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security and State Department, expires on March 8.
In a letter to his colleagues sent Sunday, Schumer said there is no agreement yet to prevent a partial shutdown of the agencies whose funding expires this week. That includes the departments of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.
“While we had hoped to have legislation ready this weekend that would give Members sufficient time to review the text, it is now clear that House Republicans need more time to reach a resolution,” Schumer wrote in the letter. The Senate majority leader called on Johnson to “act to fight the extremists in his caucus again and do the right thing” by greenlighting funding to keep the government open.