Congressional leaders showed signs of optimism on Tuesday that they would avert a partial government shutdown at the end of the week after a closed-door meeting with President Biden at the White House.
But discussions over swiftly sending aid to Ukraine grew heated, according to top Democrats who attended the meeting, as Mr. Biden, Democratic leaders, and Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, laid out an impassioned case for continuing to arm Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression. Mr. Johnson has so far refused to take up the $95 billion aid package the Senate passed earlier this month for Israel and Ukraine.
“The meeting on Ukraine was intense,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said. “It was intense because everyone in that room was telling Speaker Johnson how vital” sending aid was.
The more immediate challenge facing Congress is brokering a deal on federal spending to pull the government back from the brink of a partial shutdown this week, and lawmakers left the White House meeting telling reporters they had made “good progress.”
“I think we are making some real headway on the appropriations process,” Mr. McConnell told reporters at the Capitol after the meeting.
Mr. Johnson on Tuesday after the White House meeting said he was “very optimistic” that Congress would act to avert a shutdown.
“We have been working in good faith around the clock every single day, for months and weeks, and over the last several days, quite literally around the clock, to get that job done,” Mr. Johnson said.
On Ukraine, he said, House Republicans were still “actively pursuing and investigating all the various options on that, and we will address that in a timely manner.”
“But again, the first priority of the country is our border and making sure it’s secure,” Mr. Johnson said. “I believe the president can take executive authority right now today to change that.”
Lawmakers are running out of time to strike a deal to avert another partial government shutdown. The first batch of funding will run out on Friday at midnight, while funding for some agencies, including the Defense Department, will expire on March 8.
Separately, Mr. Biden wants the leaders to pass critical emergency aid for Ukraine. His administration has spent months pushing for additional funding, arguing that Ukraine is running out of artillery, air defense weaponry and other munitions. The bill also includes billions in security assistance for Israel as it tries to wipe out Hamas after the terrorist attacks on Oct. 7.
“I think the consequence of inaction every day in Ukraine are dire,” Mr. Biden said before the meeting.
The government spending bill is being held up by demands from hard-right lawmakers in the House, including measures to restrict abortion access, that many members will not support. Ultraconservatives have brought the government to the brink of a shutdown or a partial shutdown three times in the past six months as they try to win more spending cuts and conservative policy conditions written into how federal money is spent.
Mr. Biden emphasized during the meeting that a bipartisan funding bill should be “free of any extreme policies,” according to a summary of the meeting from the White House.
The meeting came after Mr. Schumer announced on Sunday that leaders had failed to reach a deal over the weekend because “House Republicans need more time to sort themselves out.” Mr. Johnson accused Senate Democrats of “attempting at this late stage to spend on priorities that are further left than what their chamber agreed upon.”
The White House has ramped up pressure on Mr. Johnson in recent weeks as Ukraine observed the second anniversary of the Russian invasion over the weekend. Mr. Biden continues to stress that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is a global threat.
Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, said on Sunday that he had spoken with Mr. Johnson. The speaker had indicated he would like to pass Ukraine funding, Mr. Sullivan said, but was “trying to figure out a way to do it.”
“Well, this is one of those instances where one person can bend the course of history,” Mr. Sullivan said during an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” adding that the foreign aid package would pass overwhelmingly with bipartisan support if put up for a vote.
“Right now, it comes down to his willingness to actually step up to the plate and discharge his responsibility at this critical moment,” Mr. Sullivan said. “And history is watching.”
