Speaker Johnson to meet with Biden and congressional leaders at White House

On his first full day on the job on Thursday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will be going to the White House for a briefing on President Joe Biden’s supplemental funding request.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed Biden invited Johnson to sit down with other congressional leaders, including relevant committee chairpersons and ranking members, to discuss the president’s national security supplemental funding package for Israel, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, and the border.

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Jean-Pierre repeated that Biden was open to bipartisanship with Johnson once House Republicans got “their affairs in order” after taking 22 days to pick a new speaker.

“We’ve been able to do really big things in a bipartisan way,” she said. “He wants to continue that progress. And let’s not forget in the midterms, the American people were very clear: They want to continue to see that type of bipartisanship.”

This will be Johnson’s first meeting with the president since becoming speaker and one of the first big tests of his speakership.

Biden has requested that Congress provide $106 billion in supplemental funding to address two wars and the border.

The request includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s invasion, $14.3 billion for Israel as it fights against the terrorist group Hamas, $13.6 billion for border security, and $10 billion for humanitarian assistance.

Biden’s supplemental request faces a tough road in the House as many House Republicans oppose providing more funding to Ukraine and are against the price tag of the request. As the newly elected speaker, Johnson will be tasked with wrangling a divided conference on this matter.

Earlier on Thursday, a group of Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate requesting a “narrow supplemental appropriations package” with $14.3 billion for Israel aid and then the entirety of the House’s border security package, H.R. 2.

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Others believe the supplemental must pass with Ukraine funding.

“It’s a seemingly big number. But when you consider the level of the fight, it is a small number,” Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said. “It has to pass.”