A top lawmaker on the House Armed Services Committee said Thursday it’s likely Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) won’t bring up a foreign aid supplemental until Congress completes work on final fiscal year 2024 appropriations legislation.
Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), chair of HASC’s Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, signaled optimism the lower chamber will eventually take up a supplemental spending package with further aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan that has stalled since the Senate passed its own bill nearly a month ago.
“I do think the debate will come up on supplemental appropriations. I do think there’s a pathway forward for us to get a supplemental done. But you have to be able to clear the deck with all 12 appropriations bills first. I’m confident that will happen. I’m confident we’ll get to the point to discuss what needs to be done with funding for Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel,” Wittman said during the McAleese Conference in Washington, D.C.
The House on Wednesday passed a spending package covering six appropriation bills, which the Senate will now consider ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline on Friday.
Congress must still complete work on the remaining six fiscal year 2024 spending bills, including the defense budget, before the next deadline on March 22.
“I still want to emphasize the fact that it’s really important that we get across the finish line and pass the defense appropriations bill in the next two weeks. And we’re there. There’s some side issues that are getting in the way of it. So it’s really important that we get through that, pass the bill and give ourselves that path forward,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), HASC’s top Democrat, said during separate remarks at the McAleese Conference.
In early January, Congressional leaders unveiled a bipartisan agreement on FY ‘24 spending toplines, to include $886 billion for defense (Defense Daily, Jan. 8).
Wittman told reporters on Thursday the defense appropriations would have to be finalized by March 15 to realistically get it passed and on the president’s desk for final signature by the March 22 deadline.
Smith on Thursday also expressed some optimism that the House will eventually pass a foreign aid supplemental, while adding he believes it will ultimately be the Senate’s version and not a newly crafted proposal.
“In my opinion, eventually the Senate [foreign aid] bill will pass. Now, my confidence in that is slightly less than it is in my next statement, which is either the Senate bill will pass or nothing will pass,” Smith said. “Everyone is running around trying to find an alternative. But think about it this way, the House had at least six months to try to come up with some plan for getting a supplemental to Ukraine and they’ve had all kinds of discussions…[I’ve said], ‘Do something, pick something.’ Six months later, they haven’t.”
The Senate passed its $95.3 billion bill with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Feb. 13 following months of bipartisan deliberations, to include negotiations on border security items that were ultimately removed from consideration (Defense Daily, Feb. 13).
A group of House moderates then released an alternative $66.3 billion supplemental proposal with defense-only funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, cutting out the humanitarian and economic aid from the Senate’s bill, and adding in border security provisions (Defense Daily, Feb. 16).
Smith said on Thursday he would “bet the mortgage” against the House settling on a new supplemental proposal that it would take to the floor for a vote, adding lawmakers should focus on convincing Johnson to bring the Senate’s bill up for consideration.
“Over the course of the next month, the House is going to flail around again and figure out that they can’t do anything and then finally, one way or the other, we’re going to find a way to get the Senate bill on the floor and pass it. But it’s going to be difficult because people are still imagining that somehow the House could pass [it’s own] thing with Ukraine [aid] in it,” Smith said.