Biden is summoning congressional leaders to the White Area to speak Ukraine and govt investment

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden will convene the highest 4 congressional leaders on the White Area on Tuesday to press lawmakers on passing an emergency support package deal for Ukraine and Israel, in addition to keeping off a looming govt shutdown subsequent month, in keeping with a White Area legit.The highest 4 leaders come with Area Speaker Mike Johnson, R-L. a.., Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Area Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Chief Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.Throughout the assembly, the president will speak about the “urgency” of passing the help package deal, which has bipartisan enhance, in addition to regulation to stay the government running throughout the finish of September, stated the White Area legit, who used to be granted anonymity to speak about a gathering no longer but publicly showed.

The Republican-led Home is beneath drive to go the $95 billion nationwide safety package deal that bolsters support for Ukraine, Israel in addition to the Indo-Pacific. That regulation cleared the Senate on a 70-29 vote previous this month, however Johnson has been immune to hanging up the help invoice for a vote within the Area.

“That is a type of cases the place one particular person can bend the process historical past. Speaker Johnson, if he put this invoice at the flooring, would produce a robust, bipartisan majority vote in prefer of the help to Ukraine,” Jake Sullivan, the White Area nationwide safety adviser, stated Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

Sullivan wired that Ukrainians want guns and ammunition to fend off Russian forces, and that during his non-public conversations with the speaker, he “has indicated that he want to get the investment for Ukraine.”Cut loose the nationwide safety package deal, the primary tranche of presidency investment is because of expire Friday. The remainder of the government, together with companies such because the Pentagon, Division of Hometown Safety and the State Division, expires on March 8.In a letter to his colleagues despatched Sunday, Schumer stated there used to be no longer but an settlement to steer clear of a partial shutdown of the companies whose investment expires this week. That comes with the departments of Transportation, Housing and City Construction, Agriculture and Veterans Affairs.

“Whilst we had was hoping to have regulation able this weekend that may give considerable time for contributors to check the textual content, it’s transparent now that Area Republicans want extra time to type themselves out,” Schumer wrote within the letter. The Senate majority chief known as on Johnson to “step as much as as soon as once more greenback the extremists in his caucus and do the proper factor” via greenlighting investment to stay the federal government open.Johnson stated Schumer’s letter used to be “counterproductive” and stated Democrats had been pushing their very own unrealistic coverage calls for. “This isn’t a time for petty politics,” Johnson stated in a remark. “Area Republicans will proceed to paintings in excellent religion and hope to succeed in an result once conceivable, at the same time as we proceed to insist that our personal border safety will have to be addressed in an instant.”