Johnson ties LNG exports to Ukraine aid package

By Kelsey Brugger | 04/01/2024 01:31 PM EDT

House Republicans want to use the White House’s desire to help Ukraine as leverage against the export permitting pause.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks with reporters after a press conference at the US Capitol.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) speaking with reporters at the Capitol last month. Francis Chung/POLITICO

House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to use President Joe Biden’s liquefied natural gas export permitting “pause” as a bargaining chip to advance Ukraine aid.

The Louisiana Republican said Sunday he would try to move bipartisan national security supplemental spending legislation that includes several “innovations,” including boosting American energy.

“We want to unleash American energy,” he said on Fox News. “We want to have natural gas exports that will help unfund Vladimir Putin’s war effort there.”

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Johnson’s office declined to provide more details about what exactly the speaker was looking for. But a person familiar with the matter, who was granted anonymity to speak freely, said there have long been discussions about ways to reverse Biden’s LNG export permitting pause.

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