After 'Intense' Meeting, Speaker Doesn't Budge on Ukraine Aid

Congressional leaders emerged from an "intense" Oval Office meeting with President Biden on Tuesday speaking optimistically about the prospects for avoiding a partial government shutdown, but with new uncertainty about aid for Ukraine and Israel as the president and others urgently warned Speaker Mike Johnson of the grave consequences of delay. Biden called the leaders to the White House in hopes of making progress against a legislative logjam on Capitol Hill that has major ramifications not just for the US but for the world as Ukraine struggles to repel Russia's invasion with weapons and ammunition starting to run short, the AP reports. "The need is urgent," Biden said of the Ukraine aid. "The consequences of inaction every day in Ukraine are dire."

Biden hosted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Oval Office along with Republican House Speaker Johnson and Vice President Kamala Harris . After the more than hour-long meeting, Biden pulled Johnson aside for a private conversation. Schumer, who was joined by Jeffries in describing how the meeting went, called the session "one of the most intense I've ever encountered" in the Oval Office. Johnson spoke to reporters on his own, without Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell by his side. McConnell voted for a $95 billion foreign aid bill earlier this month that would aid Ukraine and Israel.

Johnson, who rejected a US-Mexico border security compromise that was eventually stripped from the final product, signaled no change in his position on Ukraine aid. He said the Senate's package "does nothing" to secure the US-Mexico border, the GOP's demand in return for helping Ukraine. "The first priority of the country is our border, and making it secure," Johnson said. With the deadline days away, the congressional leaders seemed more hopeful that they would be able to prevent any shutdown, though it may require another short-term extension to be passed this week. "We believe that we can get to agreement on these issues and prevent a government shutdown. And that's our first responsibility," Johnson said.

(More government shutdown stories.)