House Intel chair questions Speaker Johnson’s support of Ukraine aid

The House Intelligence Committee chairman said Sunday he was “very concerned” about Speaker Mike Johnson’s decision to move forward with standalone aid for Israel that excludes more money for Ukraine.

Mr. Johnson will hold a vote this week on $17.5 billion for Israel to counter the Democratic-led Senate’s plan to vote on a $110 billion national security package that includes aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as a bipartisan southern border security deal opposed by House Republicans.

“I think that we really have four significant national security threats: we have Asia, we have Ukraine, we have Israel and what’s going on in the Middle East. And, of course, we have our border,” Rep. Mike Turner, Ohio Republican, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

“Ukraine has to be funded. It has — we have to respond to Russian aggression, or we will have a broader war there,” he said.

The House passed standalone aid for Israel last year that was funded by including cuts to the IRS. This time, the IRS cuts will be excluded to put pressure on Senate Democrats to provide aid for the U.S. ally.

“The Ukrainians are getting to the point where it’s critical that the funding come through,” Mr. Turner said. “I certainly am looking forward to the speaker describing, if he’s going to piecemeal this, how each of these pieces get accomplished.”