Johnson signals he won’t put Senate supplemental on the floor despite increased pressure

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Sunday did not indicate that he would put the Senate-passed supplemental package on foreign aid on the floor this week, despite mounting pressure from Democrats and some GOP lawmakers to do so after Iran’s retaliatory strike against Israel.

During an interview on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Johnson noted that House members were pulling together details for a new package.

“We’re going to try again this week, and the details of that package are being put together right now,” he said. “We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”

The House initially passed its GOP-led Israel support package days after Johnson was elected speaker in October. The package, which paired $14.3 billion in aid to Israel with cuts to IRS funding, was deemed dead on arrival in the Democratic-led Senate and President Joe Biden vowed to veto it.

Then, in February, the House failed to pass a stand-alone Israel aid bill without those IRS cuts, with many Republicans voting with Democrats to defeat the effort.

That same month, the Senate passed a $95 billion national security package that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but Johnson rejected the deal after killing a bipartisan effort in the Senate to address security at the U.S.-Mexico border. And, under pressure from GOP hard-liners who have warned him that tying Ukraine aid to the bill could prove detrimental to his speakership, Johnson has yet to address aid to the war-town country months later.

On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters that the “best” way to help Israel was to “pass the supplemental this week.”

“I’ve called on Speaker Johnson to do that,” he added during a New York City press conference