Johnson Announces New Spending Bill That Funds Trump’s Agenda
Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Friday that the newly approved House budget will feature increased defense spending while cutting certain agencies, closely aligning with President Donald Trump’s objectives.
He stated that the continuing resolution would finance the government through the conclusion of the current fiscal year—Sept. 30—while implementing much of Trump’s proposed policies.
The president responded positively to the news on his TruthSocial platform.
“The House and Senate have put together, under the circumstances, a very good funding Bill (“CR”)! All Republicans should vote (Please!) YES next week. Great things are coming for America, and I am asking you all to give us a few months to get us through to September so we can continue to put the Country’s ‘financial house’ in order. Democrats will do anything they can to shut down our Government, and we can’t let that happen. We have to remain UNITED — NO DISSENT — Fight for another day when the timing is right. VERY IMPORTANT. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he wrote.
The budget increase of $8 billion from the previous year for defense spending ensures the United States remains the world’s leading military spender, significantly outpacing China, according to The Washington Times.
“It also includes an additional $6 billion for veterans’ health care, over $9 billion for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the freeze on $20 billion in IRS funds,” the report detailed.
“Plus, the deal drops nondefense spending by $13 billion. At least 22 instances in the measure zeroed out funding for programs in assorted agencies, including the Health and Human Services, Energy and Labor departments,” it continued.
However, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, criticized the measure as a “power grab” by Trump’s administration.
“By essentially closing the book on negotiations for full-year funding bills that help the middle class and protect our national security, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have handed their power to an unelected billionaire,” she said, as reported by the Times.
Johnson recently made headlines when he suggested that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy might need to step down after a contentious public confrontation with Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a Washington meeting last week.
During the meeting in the Oval Office, Zelenskyy engaged in a heated exchange with Trump, Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and others, discussing a rare earth mineral rights deal and diplomatic efforts regarding the Russia-Ukraine war.
“President Trump is trying to get these two parties to a point of peace,” Johnson told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “What President Zelenskyy did in the White House was effectively signal to us that he’s not ready for that yet, and I think that’s a great disappointment.”
He further stated that Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and return to the table with gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country” in order for the United States to continue supporting Kyiv’s peace negotiations. Johnson also emphasized that the Trump administration “has been very clear” that a peace agreement could be reached if Ukraine and Zelenskyy are willing to negotiate.
In a subsequent CNN “State of the Union” interview, Johnson pushed back against remarks made on March 1 by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a long-time Trump critic within the GOP, who claimed that Trump is “walking away from our allies and embracing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”
Johnson refuted this assertion, stating that Murkowski is “plainly wrong” and that “the person who walked away from the table yesterday was President Zelenskyy.”
His comments regarding Zelenskyy’s potential resignation echoed those of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a key Republican advocate for Ukraine throughout the ongoing three-year conflict. On February 28, Graham remarked that Zelenskyy’s leadership might need to change, as reported by The Epoch Times.
“The question for me is, ‘Is he redeemable in the eyes of Americans?’ Most Americans witnessing what they saw today would not want Zelenskyy to be their business partner, including me, and I’ve been to Ukraine nine times since the war started,” Graham told Fox News last week.
The senator also suggested that Zelenskyy should apologize to Trump. “If he can’t say that, then Ukraine—you need to either send us somebody new we can deal with or just accept the consequences,” Graham concluded.