House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., signaled to lawmakers Monday night that the Senate's $95 billion national security package doesn't have much chance in the lower chamber since it fails to address U.S. border security.
"In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters," Johnson said in a statement. "America deserves better than the Senate's status quo."
The current Senate bill has funding appropriated for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. House Republicans have long indicated their unwillingness to pass any further Ukraine aid unless it be tied to resources to deal with the southern border.
Last week, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., suggested that Ukraine aid be "held hostage" in order to get the Biden administration to secure the border.
Johnson said the Senate should have "gone back to the drawing board to amend the current bill to include real border security provisions that would actually help end the ongoing catastrophe."
"House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border. The House acted 10 months ago to help enact transformative policy change by passing the Secure Our Border Act, and since then, including today, the Senate has failed to meet the moment," Johnson said.
Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, shared Speaker Johnson's trepidation regarding the Senate aid bill, but for a different reason. Vance posted on X about what he called an "impeachment time bomb" should Donald Trump win the presidency.
"If President Trump were to withdraw from or pause financial support for the war in Ukraine in order to bring the conflict to a peaceful conclusion, 'over the objections of career experts,' it would amount to the same fake violation of budget law from the first impeachment, under markedly similar facts and circumstances," Vance wrote.