Biden pushes Republicans on Ukraine aid bill amid Trump opposition

U.S. President Joe Biden and top officials are pushing House Speaker Mike Johnson for a vote on what the White House says is a critically needed funding bill for Ukraine’s war against Russia that is opposed by former President Donald Trump.

Trump’s opposition to the Senate-approved $95.34 billion military aid package for Ukraine and Israel means that it may never be voted on in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. A small group of moderate Republicans said they were working on an alternate version of the bill that might win his support.

The bill will also fund U.S. troops in the Middle East, humanitarian aid in Gaza and defense companies and submarine manufacturing in the United States, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at the White House on Wednesday in a rare news conference.