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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Republican U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson again signaled on Wednesday he has no immediate plans to allow the House to vote on a $95 billion package of international security assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Not there.
“We are not going to be forced to act by the Senate,” Johnson said at House leaders’ weekly news conference.
war in israel and gaza
![TOPSHOT - A Palestinian woman cries while inspecting a heavily damaged apartment following an Israeli bombardment of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas enters its fifth month. (Photo by Saeed Khatib/AFP) (Photo by Saeed Khatib/AFP via Getty Images)](https://www.usnews.com/object/image/0000018d-8f7f-dc9b-a78f-ff7fea9f0000/gaza-08.jpg?update-time=1707509687963&size=responsive640)
He reiterated his insistence that any package of international military and humanitarian assistance must also include security measures along the US border with Mexico.
Latest photos from Ukraine
![Bakhmut region, Ukraine – 3 November: Ukrainian military special forces unit fires RPGs at enemy positions "Kurt & Co Group" Capture the first line of the front line of the Russian-Ukrainian war in the Bakhmut district of Ukraine on November 3, 2023. Ukrainian forces are struggling to retake Bakhmut, which was captured by Russian forces in May after a year-long war. In the summer, Ukraine recovered the area north and south of Bakhmut, but Russia occupied the city itself. (Photo by Kostya Liberov/Libcos/Getty Images)](https://www.usnews.com/object/image/0000018c-e77d-d6bf-a5ef-f7ff1e5a0000/ukraine-war-08.jpg?update-time=1704690856061&size=responsive640)
The Senate on Tuesday passed the security bill without border provisions after Republicans blocked a version of the bill that was the result of months of bipartisan negotiations that included the biggest overhaul of US immigration policy in decades.
Photos you should see
![A member of the National Ballet of Ukraine looks at her phone while preparing for a performance "nadia ukraine" (Hope for Ukraine) Opening night in Vancouver on Monday, February 5, 2024. Twenty-three dancers are on a Canadian tour highlighting Ukrainian culture through traditional dance, while also supporting the war effort by collecting donations from audiences for Ukraine First. Lady Olena Zelenska Foundation and Humanite. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)](https://www.usnews.com/object/image/0000018d-8a9b-d131-a9df-afdf97800001/feb08-pyss-y01.jpg?update-time=1707427637572&size=responsive640)
The aid package received 70 votes in the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats. But to become law, it will also have to pass the House, where Johnson’s Republicans hold a slim majority and thus have almost complete control over whatever comes up for a vote.
“We will continue to demand that we focus on our own issues first before we focus on issues around the world,” Johnson said, referring to the border measures.
He said Republicans had rejected the compromise bill with border measures because it was inadequate. “The reason the other person was dead on arrival was that he didn’t arrive at the right time, that doesn’t solve the problem,” Johnson said.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Makini Brice and Katherine Jackson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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