The House’s passing of important foreign aid bills for Ukraine and Israel will likely be the focus of this week’s Sunday news shows.
On Saturday, the House passed new aid bills for Ukraine and Israel amid the conflicts both countries are participating in, following a long period of Republican infighting over whether more aid should be sent to Ukraine. Beyond being an important victory for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), the lower chamber approving more aid to Ukraine will also be seen as a win for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will appear on NBC’s “Meet the Press” this week.
“I am grateful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track,” Zelensky said in a post on the social platform X on Saturday.
“Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it,” Zelensky’s post continued. “The vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger.”
Johnson came to the decision to push the foreign aid bills to the floor and cut off their funds from a separate border security bill by way of prayer, according to Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), who will appear on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday.
“I think he was torn between trying to save his job and doing the right thing,” said McCaul, a longtime supporter of more Ukraine aid and chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We’ve told him what’s at stake here, and you want to be on the right side of history. And he’s a man of faith. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve, but he, obviously, the night before he made a decision, reached out for guidance, and the next day he made the call.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), a strong critic of Ukraine aid, went after Johnson in the wake of the foreign aid bills passing the lower chamber.
“Zelensky thanks Speaker Mike Johnson (D-Ukraine) for sending $61 BILLION of your hard-earned tax dollars to fuel a foreign war,” Greene said in a post on X, which also featured a screenshot of Zelensky’s post.
“Johnson once again passed a bill with the help of Democrats while the majority of the Republican majority voted against it,” Greene continued. “Not only is Mike Johnson a traitor to our conference, he’s a traitor to our country.”
A full jury in former President Trump’s hush money case in New York has now been selected. Following the screening of nearly 200 prospective jurors by the judge, Trump’s lawyers and Manhattan prosecutors, 12 jurors and six alternates were picked Friday.
“We’ve now completed jury selection for this case,” Judge Juan Merchan said.
The hush money trial began Monday, marking the first criminal trial of an American president. The former president has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in relation to reimbursements to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who paid an adult film actor $130,000 prior to the 2016 election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump, which he denies.
Following the second day of jury selection in his trial, the former president referred to the reimbursements as a “legal expense.”
“I was paying a lawyer, and we marked it down as a legal expense — some accountant. I didn’t know,” Trump told reporters. “Mark it down as a legal expense. That’s exactly what it was. And you get indicted over that?”
Trump’s 2016 GOP presidential primary rival, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), is set to appear on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” this week. Cruz is running a very closely-watched race to keep his own senate seat in his home state.
Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:
NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday” — Rep. Glenn Ivey (R-Md.); Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo).
ABC’s “This Week” — Reps. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif).; retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska); Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.).
CNN’s “State of the Union” — Govs. J.B. Pritzker (D-Ill.) and Kristi Noem (R-S.D.); Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).
“Fox News Sunday” --- Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.); Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.).
Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” — Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah); Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.); Polish President Andrzej Duda.