The U.S. House has a speaker. What does that mean for Israel, Ukraine aid?

With Rep. Mike Johnson as speaker, it remains to be seen how he and House Republicans will treat President Biden's request to pair aid for Israel and Ukraine together.

Just hours after Rep. Mike Johnson was elected speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, he introduced his first bill: a resolution affirming the House’s support for Israel and condemnation of Hamas.

The move was largely symbolic, a chance to show the U.S. government was functioning again after a chaotic three weeks where Republicans scrambled to choose a new speaker — a period of inaction that coincided with Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel. The non-binding resolution passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Now, a Johnson-led House will have to follow that up with funding.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve US$105 billion in additional security funding that includes US$14.3 billion in military aid for Israel. But the requested package includes far more money — US$60 billion — for Ukraine, which Johnson and other Republicans have grown increasingly opposed to helping any further.

“Those numbers are going to be … ripped apart and changed, because that’s how the American system works,” said Andrew Rasiulis, a senior fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a retired Department of National Defence official.

“But the gravitas is definitely in favour of Israel now in terms of dollars, and I expect the Ukraine funding is going to have a harder time.”

However the House decides to proceed, it will be some time before they can act: lawmakers are set to return to their districts on Friday and won’t return to Washington, D.C., until Nov. 1.

Johnson has yet to say definitively how he plans to address Biden’s request, or where he stands on the issue of further Ukraine aid now that he’s speaker. He refused to answer questions from reporters on policy after winning his party’s nomination Tuesday night.