Report: Rep. Jordan Would Allow Vote Linking Israel and Ukraine Aid

Jordan won the GOP nomination to be the speaker of the House

Axios reported Monday that four House Republicans walked away from conversations with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) under the impression that he would allow a vote linking military aid for Ukraine and Israel if he becomes the new House speaker.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) initially won the GOP nomination for House speaker but abandoned his bid after failing to gain enough support. Jordan was handed the nomination on Friday, but only 152 Republicans said they would support him in a vote on the House floor, short of the 217 votes that he needs.

Jordan has gained more support since Friday and has been meeting one-on-one with holdouts ahead of an expected vote on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Jordan told Axios that he hasn’t made promises in his conversations with other lawmakers and only discussed the best way to approach certain issues.

But one of the House Republicans who spoke with Jordan said, “He’s not going to block a vote” linking military aid for Israel and Ukraine. Jordan has voted against previous spending packages for the proxy war in Ukraine, but is a staunch supporter of Israel and has called for Congress to authorize more military assistance for Israel.

The Washington Post first reported last week that the White House planned to link aid for Ukraine and Israel in an effort to “jam the far right,” referring to House Republicans who are against the proxy war in Ukraine but strongly back Israel. The White House has also discussed the idea of adding aid for Taiwan and funds for border security to further entice Republicans to support a huge spending package.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.