Speaker Mike Johnson suggested the House could soon begin work on Ukraine aid. (Ozan Guzelce/ dia images via Getty Images | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
It comes after Republicans killed a $118 billion package with aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel and the U.S. border earlier this year, arguing it did not go far enough to tackle the ongoing border crisis. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and President Biden have been pressuring Johnson to take up a slimmer $95 billion package without border measures.
"We've been trying to use that as the only leverage we have to force change on the border. We're still trying to force the president to use his executive authority, and most of the American people know that he has that authority. He's not using it," Johnson argued.
On Ukraine specifically, he said, "There’s a lot of things that we should do that make more sense and I think we’ll have consensus around."
US SENDING UKRAINE $300 MILLION IN WEAPONS DESPITE LACKING FUNDS TO REPLENISH ITS OWN STOCKPILES
Johnson highlighted three details specifically – the first being the REPO Act introduced in the House last year by Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, which would liquidate seized Russian assets and send that as assistance to Ukraine.
The speaker also pointed out that former President Trump recently floated the idea of aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, though he did not mention specific terms save for Kyiv paying Washington back if they win the war against Russia.
Former President Donald Trump suggested aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan. (Associated Press/Michael Wyke)
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson's office for more specifics on timing and was referred back to his interview remarks.
The Sunday interview included some of Johnson’s most specific comments on Ukraine aid yet, as bipartisan pressure grows with the situation for Kyiv growing more dire in the face of Russia’s vastly greater resources.
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However, Johnson is also taking heat from a small but vocal faction on his right flank for supporting Ukraine aid at all.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who filed a motion to oust Johnson in late March over passage of a bipartisan $1.2 trillion government funding deal, blasted him on Monday morning for his stance.
"If Speaker Johnson gives another $60 billion to the defense of Ukraine’s border after he FULLY FUNDED Biden’s deadly open border, the cruel joke would be on the American people. And it won’t be April Fools," she wrote on X.
Johnson said Sunday that he and Greene had exchanged text messages and would be speaking next week.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
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