House Speaker Johnson Dismisses Possibility of Tying Ukraine Aid to Stopgap

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House Speaker Mike Johnson said he has no plans to grant the request following President-elect Donald Trump’s recent election victory.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, on Dec. 4, dismissed the possibility of additional Ukraine aid being tied to an expected congressional stopgap spending bill, amid reports that the White House is seeking to greenlight the funding by the end of the year.

Johnson was asked about the Ukraine-related aid by reporters during a House Republican Leaders news conference ahead of a looming Dec. 20 deadline for Congress to fund the government and avoid a holiday shutdown.

It comes after reports emerged last month that President Joe Biden has urged Congress to pass the extra funding and replenish weapons to Kyiv to strengthen its position in the Russia–Ukraine conflict before he leaves office.

“I’m not planning to do that,” Johnson, a Republican, said when asked about additional Ukraine-related aid being tied to a continuing resolution to fund the government.

The House Speaker went on to state that President-elect Donald Trump’s recent election victory has changed the dynamic of the Russia-Ukraine war.

“There are developments by the hour in Ukraine,” Johnson said. “I think as we predicted, and as I said to all of you weeks before the election, if Donald Trump is elected, it will change the dynamic of the Russian war on Ukraine, and we’re seeing that happen.”

Any additional assistance for Kyiv would need to be decided by the new U.S. leader when he assumes office in January, he said.

“So it is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision,” he continued. “Now, we have a newly elected president and we’re going to wait and take the new commander-in-chief’s direction on all of that so I don’t expect any Ukraine funding to come up now.”

The White House has not publicly commented on the reported funding request.

Earlier in November, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CBS News that Biden planned to ask Congress to push through more aid to Ukraine in the final days of his term.

Biden would “make the case to the Congress and to the incoming administration that the United States should not walk away from Ukraine, that walking away from Ukraine means more instability in Europe,” Sullivan said at the time.

The national security adviser added that Biden would also push for “ongoing resources” for Ukraine beyond the end of his term, because the “threat to Ukraine will remain no matter what exactly happens on the battlefield or at the negotiating table, and the United States should not walk away from its commitment” to the embattled country.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House for comment.

Johnson’s comments also come just days after the White House announced a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky while welcoming him to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Sept. 21, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) — U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky while welcoming him to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Sept. 21, 2023. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The package includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Stinger missiles, artillery shells, drones, landmines, and other military equipment, according to a Dec. 2 statement.

In unveiling the new military aid package, Sullivan said Kyiv will receive “hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and other critical capabilities” from the United States between now and mid-January.

Biden is “seeking to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position, and we will continue to execute upon this strategy in support of Ukraine and its fight for freedom,” Sullivan said.

Aldgra Fredly contributed to this report.