ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York would expand access to booze by allowing movie theaters to sell liquor and continuing to let people buy takeout cocktails from bars and restaurants under a series of measures unveiled Thursday.

The state Assembly passed the measures Thursday, which are part of the larger state budget agreement. The state Senate is expected to follow before it’s sent to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk for signature. The deal was struck between Hochul and leaders of the state Senate and Assembly after a series of closed-door talks.

Movie theaters in New York are only allowed to sell beer and wine, according to the New York State Liquor Authority, but this new legislation would add liquor to the mix.

“Someone should be able to enjoy a cocktail while they watch a movie,” said state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat who chairs a legislative committee where state alcohol laws pass through.

The measure comes with guardrails in an attempt to maintain a family-friendly environment at theatres that have licenses to sell booze. People would only be allowed to purchase one alcoholic beverage per transaction, and theaters must stop selling alcohol once the credits start rolling in for the last showing of the day.

New Yorkers would also be allowed to buy takeout cocktails at restaurants and bars for the next five years under another measure part of the state budget. The rule was set to expire next year after the state temporarily authorized the sale of to-go alcoholic drinks during the pandemic.

Skoufis, who supports keeping that measure permanent, said “it provides some short-term certainty for restaurants and businesses doing this.”

Lawmakers in Albany voted Thursday to push the state’s budget deadline again, though they are expected to vote on package of budget bills later in the week. Hochul announced on Monday the framework of a $237 billion budget, about two weeks after the original April 1 deadline.

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Maysoon Khan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some Democrats are entertaining the prospect of coming to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s rescue should Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., force a vote seeking his ouster, though it will likely depend on his ability to deliver an emergency aid package focused on Ukraine and Israel.

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has suggested that Democrats would help Johnson if the speaker faced retribution from within his own party for holding votes on the $95.3 billion package. But he’s also encouraging his colleagues to take a wait-and-see approach to apply maximum leverage.

“Do not box yourself in with a public statement,” Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, the No. 2-ranking House Democratic leader, told colleagues in a closed-door session Thursday, according to a person familiar with the private remarks.

Still, Johnson’s future been a much discussed topic on Capitol Hill — even more so after Republican leadership on Thursday floated the possibility of changing the House rules to make it easier for a speaker to withstand a challenge from members of their own party. With or without the rule change, Johnson may need Democratic support to remain as speaker if Greene or someone else forces a vote.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., said if the aid package makes it over the finish line, “I think a lot of people are not going to want to punish him for doing the right thing.”

Greene has threatened to try to oust Johnson and warned that advancing funding for Ukraine would help build her case that GOP lawmakers should select a new speaker. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., tweeted this week that he told Johnson during a closed-door Republican conference meeting that he would be co-sponsoring Greene’s motion. Massie suggested Johnson “should pre-announce his resignation” and give Republicans time to select a successor.

The vast majority of Republicans are distancing themselves from Greene’s effort, wary of repeating the chaos the House endured last fall when eight Republicans joined with Democrats in removing then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., from the post. It’s likely that Johnson would not need a large number of Democratic lawmakers to help him remain in the speaker’s office, but it would depend on how many Republicans voted to remove him.

Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., said that if Johnson would put the Senate-passed measure on the floor, “I would do what I had to do to make sure he does not lose his job for that.” Johnson made the decision to take the Senate measure and break it into three separate bills. He’s also added a fourth bill focused on national security priorities.

Breaking up the package into parts gives lawmakers the ability to vote against military assistance to Ukraine or Israel without tanking the entire measure.

Johnson said he has not asked a single Democrat to “get involved in that at all” when asked about a possible motion to vacate.

“I do not spend time walking around thinking about the motion to vacate,” Johnson said. “I have a job to do here and I’m going to do the job, regardless of personal consequences.”

Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., said he would consider voting present during a speaker vote if Johnson allowed the Ukraine aid to be voted on.

“Why in the world would I want to go along with Marjorie Taylor Greene if Mike Johnson just gave us a vote I’ve been advocating for for more than six months?” Boyle said. “I think a number of Democrats would be in the same position — not necessarily a vote for him, but just make clear this is a Republican issue and we’re not going to aid and abet Marjorie Taylor Greene to cause even more chaos.”

“I hope he will have some sort of conversation with Hakeem, but either way, yes, I’m one of those who would save him if we can do Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine and some reasonable border security,” said Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.

Other Democrats said helping Johnson must come as part of a package deal. They said he shouldn’t expect Democratic support just by putting the Senate-passed package up for a vote. He’ll need to have coordinated with Jeffries as well.

“We’re just not going to go and bail out one of the most conservative Republican speakers in American history. But what Kevin McCarthy failed to do is even entertain a conversation to try to make a deal. Democrats were ready to deal. Kevin McCarthy refused to,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. “If Speaker Johnson cares about doing the right thing as well as keeping his job, then he ought to make a deal with Democrats.”

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., said there is a “powerful instinct” among Democrats that it’s not their job to rescue Johnson from the chaos in his party. But he’s willing to help Johnson on the motion to vacate if he were to “do the right thing” on the aid package and coordinate that with Jeffries.

“I will defer to getting things done as opposed to tying myself up in partisan knots, but it’s going to be Hakeem who decides how we act,” Himes said. “We’re not going to let the Republicans sort of chip off a number of us. This will be negotiated with our leadership.”

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, said he’s unlikely to help Johnson and is not sure how long the speaker would be around anyway if he has to rely on Democratic votes to continue on the job.

“I’ve listened to what Mr. Jeffries said and I won’t rule it out, but I’m inclined to vote as I normally would. I am very concerned about how long he’s delayed Ukraine. We count the days. They count the lives lost,” Doggett said.

And then there are scores of Democrats who are in the hard “no” camp.

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., for example, said there was no way he would vote to keep Johnson as speaker.

“I think his worldview is very dangerous. I think there’s no scenario where I’m going to reward someone like that, who allows this level of chaos to happen in the House.”

And Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., also is a hard no on helping Johnson, calling it a well-intentioned idea that is fundamentally flawed.

“Bad on guns, bad on gays, bad on abortion and bad on voting rights,” Connolly said. “He litigated the overturning of the (2020) election. He didn’t just vote the wrong way. He signed up for a lawsuit. That’s who you want to save? Go home and explain that to Democrats.”

Massie warned that if Democrats help Johnson stay on a speaker, “they would doom him, they won’t save him.”

“It’s not a stable situation if a Republican speaker is speaker only by virtue of Democrats fighting for him,” Massie said.

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Congressional correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal officials are pushing back against a judge’s order that would delay the planned closure of a troubled women’s prison in California where inmates suffered sexual abuse by guards, according to court documents.

Following the Bureau of Prison’s sudden announcement Monday that FCI Dublin would be shut down, U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered an accounting of the casework for all 605 women held at the main lockup and its adjacent minimum-security camp.

In response, the bureau has filed court papers questioning the authority of the special master appointed by the judge on April 5 to oversee the prison, who’s now tasked with reviewing each inmate’s status.

The judge’s order amounts to “a de facto requirement” for the bureau to keep the prison open, U.S. attorneys wrote in Tuesday’s filing. But plans for the closure and transfer of inmates “cannot be changed on the fly,” especially because the facility faces a “significant lack of health services and severe understaffing,” according to the filing.

“The Court not only lacks jurisdiction to impose such a requirement, but it is also antithetical to the overall objective of safeguarding inmate safety and welfare,” the documents say. “Extensive resources and employee hours have already been invested in the move.”

A painstaking review of each incarcerated woman’s status would “ensure inmates are transferred to the correct location,” the judge wrote in her order Monday. “This includes whether an inmate should be released to a BOP facility, home confinement, or halfway house, or granted a compassionate release.”

It wasn’t clear Thursday how long the process could take.

Advocates have called for inmates to be freed from FCI Dublin, which they say is not only plagued by sexual abuse but also has hazardous mold, asbestos and inadequate health care. They also worry that some of the safety concerns could persist at other women’s prisons.

A 2021 Associated Press investigation exposed a “rape club” culture at the prison where a pattern of abuse and mismanagement went back years, even decades. The Bureau of Prisons repeatedly promised to improve the culture and environment — but the decision to shutter the facility represented an extraordinary acknowledgment that reform efforts have failed.

Groups representing inmates and prison workers alike said the imminent closure shows that the bureau is more interested in avoiding accountability than stemming the problems.

Last August, eight FCI Dublin inmates sued the Bureau of Prisons, alleging the agency had failed to root out sexual abuse at the facility about 21 miles (35 kilometers) east of Oakland. It is one of six women-only federal prisons and the only one west of the Rocky Mountains.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said inmates continued to face retaliation for reporting abuse, including being put in solitary confinement and having belongings confiscated. They said the civil litigation will continue.

The AP investigation found a culture of abuse and cover-ups that had persisted for years. That reporting led to increased scrutiny from Congress and pledges from the Bureau of Prisons that it would fix problems and change the culture at the prison.

Since 2021, at least eight FCI Dublin employees have been charged with sexually abusing inmates. Five have pleaded guilty. Two were convicted at trial, including the former warden, Ray Garcia. Another case is pending.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida school districts will soon have the option of allowing volunteer chaplains to counsel students under a bill signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who dismissed critics opposed to mixing religion with public education.

The only requirements for a chaplain to participate would be passing a background check and having their name and religious affiliation listed on the school website. The chaplains would “provide support, services, and programs to students as assigned by the district school board.” The law that takes effect July 1.

DeSantis stressed that the program is voluntary. Schools don’t have to have a chaplain and students don’t have to work with them. Parental permission would be required if they do.

“No one’s being forced to do anything, but to exclude religious groups from campus, that is discrimination,” DeSantis said. “You’re basically saying that God has no place. That’s wrong.”

Florida is among more than a dozen states that have sought to create school chaplain programs. Texas became the first under a law passed in 2023.

Supporters in Florida argued the legislation will provide another resource for children and pointed out that chaplains already serve in other government roles by working with police and serving in the military. The Legislature itself hosts a chaplain of the day when it’s in session and there’s a non-denominational chapel in the state Capitol.

Opponents cite several problems with the new Florida law, including there being no training requirements for chaplains. They also fear that some students might be ostracized if they are atheist or belong to a non-Christian religion in a Christian majority district.

“When you have a military chaplain, they go through intensive training and they have to be in a position where they can provide information which is factually correct and appropriate to the situation,” said Democratic Sen. Lori Berman of Palm Beach County.

Without that training, a chaplain could provide psychologically damaging counseling, Berman said. She suggested schools add more social workers, guidance counsellors or psychologists if they need them.

“Let’s put the trained professionals in and not some unlicensed, untrained people with a religious affiliation,” Berman said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There was no shortage of stressors to the global economy when Ajay Banga took charge at the World Bank almost a year ago: inflation eating at nations drowning in debt, a once-in-a-generation pandemic, climate disasters and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Factor in the Israel-Hamas war and rising tensions between powerful nations, and today’s agenda is even fuller as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund hold their spring meetings in Washington this week.

“The world’s intertwined challenges of poverty — which clearly we have seen great setbacks over the past few years — combined with fragility and conflict and violence, combined with climate change, is coming into a perfect storm,” Banga said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We need to put all of our efforts into this.”

Banga highlighted new initiatives being announced at the meetings, including plans to provide 300 million people in Africa with electricity by 2030 and 1.5 billion people worldwide with health care access over the same time frame.

He stressed the bank’s role in financing climate projects and renewing its focus on major cross-border projects that can affect large numbers of people, especially as member nations increasingly compete in trade and isolationism is on the rise.

Banga took over after David Malpass resigned as the bank’s president last June following a backlash when Malpass appeared to cast doubt on the science that says the burning of fossil fuels causes global warming. Malpass apologized and said he had misspoken.

President Joe Biden, who nominated Banga, said upon Banga’s approval by the bank’s board that the ex-Mastercard CEO “would help steer the institution as it evolves and expands to address global challenges that directly affect its core mission of poverty reduction — including climate change.”

Now Banga is under pressure to deliver on putting climate at the forefront, while climate activists and advocates for developing nations have their own ideas about how to proceed.

Simon Stiell, the U.N. climate secretary, said recently that climate finance needs to include decision-making between developed and developing countries as a way to build a financial system “fit for the 21st century.”

Banga said developing nations “feel like they weren’t the ones who created this situation — their energy consumption is still small in proportion to many developed nations.” But under the World Bank model, because countries vote on many issues based on an allocated share of stocks in the bank, smaller countries are often limited in decision-making on issues that affect them most.

“There are a whole series of things the World Bank is doing to be a hand on countries’ backs, rather than trying to force feed them into situations” that are unfavorable to smaller nations, he said.

The bank is the world’s largest financier of climate projects in developing countries, delivering $38.6 billion in the 2023 budget year.

Another challenge is dealing with powerful shareholders, namely the U.S. and China, as trade tensions have risen.

“I think we can find spaces where the potential for geopolitics and national security fears don’t interfere with what we want to do with development,” he said, pointing to the new project to expand health care services to people with limited access.

He also cited World Bank funding for a project with the African Development Bank that will give electricity access — a “basic human right” — to more than 300 million people in 2030.

“There are 1.1 billion young people in the Global South who are going to become ready for jobs in the next decade,“ Banga said. ”It’s hard to get people productive if you don’t give them access to electricity.”

Current conflicts around the world are pushing the bank to the forefront for recovery efforts.

A World Bank and U.N. report this month said the cost of the destruction from the Israel-Hamas war had reached roughly $18.5 billion, equivalent to 97% of the combined gross domestic product of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022. Tens of thousands of people have died in the war, which has destroyed housing, commercial areas, water treatment plants, schools, highways and hospitals.

“While we can help in the short term with money for humanitarian aid, which we’ve done,” Banga said, “the problem is currently getting it into Gaza.”

He said the World Bank has assembled a group of Palestinians, Israelis, Americans and Europeans to try to figure out what the bank can do in bringing together investments after the war ends.

“The World Bank is going to have to play a role in the shorter term, but also on medium-term and longer-term issues,” he said.

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AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man has pleaded guilty to sending death threats to the state attorney general and the Manhattan judge who presided over former President Donald Trump’s civil fraud case, prosecutors said Thursday.

Tyler Vogel, 26, of Lancaster, admitted to one felony count of making a terroristic threat and one misdemeanor count of making a threat of mass harm on Wednesday in state Supreme Court, according to Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane’s office.

Vogel had sent text messages late last month threatening New York Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron with “death and physical harm” if they did not comply with his demands to “cease action” in the Trump case, according to a complaint filed in a court in Lancaster, a suburb east of Buffalo.

State police said in the complaint that Vogel used a paid online background website to obtain private information about James and Engoron and that this “confirmed intentions to follow through with the threats were his demands not met.”

Keane’s office said Thursday that Vogel, in entering the guilty plea, will be allowed to participate in interim probation and must comply with the mandates of state mental health court.

Once the court and probation requirements are completed, Vogel will be permitted to withdraw his plea to the felony charge and be sentenced on the misdemeanor charge, according to Keane’s office.

He was released from custody and is due back in court April 23, but a temporary protection order issued on behalf of the two victims remains in effect, prosecutors said.

Vogel was initially charged with two felony counts of making a terroristic threat and two misdemeanor counts of aggravated harassment and faced a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said at the time.

His lawyer didn’t respond to an email seeking comment Thursday and a spokesperson for James’ office declined to comment.

Trump, meanwhile, is again on trial in Manhattan this week.

The former Republican president, who is seeking a return to the White House in this year’s election, faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to bury stories about his sex life that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign.

Trump has also appealed Engoron’s Feb. 16 finding that he lied about his wealth as he fostered the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency.

The civil trial focused on how Trump’s assets were valued on financial statements that went to bankers and insurers to get loans and deals.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has secured a place on the ballot in the battleground state of Michigan, state officials confirmed Thursday, elevating his potential to affect the November election.

Kennedy’s independent bid has spooked allies of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Democratic and Republican nominees, who fear his famous last name and dedicated support among a slice of disaffected voters will be enough to tip the election.

Biden planned to accept endorsements from at least 15 members of the Kennedy political family during a campaign stop Thursday in Philadelphia.

A spokesperson for the Michigan secretary of state’s office said the Natural Law Party, a minor party with a line on the state’s ballot, nominated Kennedy at a convention.

Kennedy faces an expensive and time-consuming process to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia without the backing of a political party.

Michigan is the second state after Utah to affirm that his name will be presented to voters. His campaign or an allied super PAC say they’ve collected enough signatures in several other states, including the battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina, but they haven’t yet been validated by elections officials.

Third-party and independent candidates face long odds in a U.S. political system largely built around two major parties. Kennedy has acknowledged the hurdles he faces and urged Americans to “take a risk” and vote for him, saying the biggest obstacle to his campaign is the belief that he can’t win.

Kennedy is a leading activist in the movement that rejects the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective, and he’s built a fervent base of support among voters disenchanted with American institutions.

Stung by losses in two of the last six elections that many Democrats blame on third-party candidates, the Democratic National Committee has pledged a full court press to challenge Kennedy, including legal challenges to his ballot access and ads linking Kennedy to Trump supporters.

The anti-vaccine group Kennedy led for years, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against several news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A coalition backed by retailers like Walmart and Target announced Thursday it has collected enough signatures to put a ballot measure before California voters this November to enhance criminal penalties for shoplifting and drug dealing.

Californians for Safer Communities, a bipartisan group made up of law enforcement, elected officials and businesses, said it has collected more than 900,000 signatures in support of the measure to roll back parts of Proposition 47. The progressive ballot measure approved by 60% of state voters in 2014 reduced certain theft and drug possession offenses from felonies to misdemeanors to help address overcrowding in jails.

In recent years, Proposition 47 has become the focus of critics who say California is too lax on crime. Videos of large-scale thefts, in which groups of individuals brazenly rush into stores and take goods in plain sight, have often gone viral. The California Retailers Association said it’s challenging to quantify the issue in California because many stores don’t share their data.

Crime data shows the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles saw a steady increase in shoplifting between 2021 and 2022, according to a study by the non-partisan Public Policy Institute of California. Across the state, shoplifting rates rose during the same time period but were still lower than the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while commercial burglaries and robberies have become more prevalent in urban counties, the study says.

The ballot measure would create harsher penalties for repeat shoplifters and fentanyl dealers. Shoplifters would be charged with a felony, regardless of the amount stolen, if they have at least two prior theft convictions. It also would create a new drug court treatment program for those with multiple drug possession convictions, among other things. More than 800 people died from fentanyl overdoses in San Francisco last year, a record for the city.

California’s approach to crime is poised to be a major political issue in November’s election. Beyond the ballot measure, Democratic San Francisco Mayor London Breed faces a tough reelection bid against competitors who say she’s allowed the city to spiral out of control. Meanwhile, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price faces a recall election, and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón faces a challenger who has criticized his progressive approach to crime and punishment.

Top Democratic state leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have repeatedly shut down calls to repeal Proposition 47. Newsom argued California already has tools to sufficiently go after criminals and urged lawmakers to bolster existing laws and go after motor vehicle thefts and resellers of stolen merchandise. Lawmakers have introduced a slew of bills aiming to tackle retail theft and online resellers.

The ballot measure campaign, which has raised at least $5.4 million as of early April, is mostly funded by large retailers. It has received $2.5 million from Walmart, $1 million from Home Depot and $500,000 from Target. The measure also has support from district attorneys and more than 30 local elected officials — including Breed and San Jose’s Democratic mayor.

Lana Negrete, vice mayor of Santa Monica and a business owner, said she’s considering closing down her family’s two music stores in the area after nine smash-and-grabs in the last four years. Negrete, a Democrat, said she voted for Proposition 47 and supported its progressive approach, but the measure has allowed for some criminals to skirt punishments while businesses are hurting.

“Nobody’s being held accountable,” Negrete said. “We’ve been robbed by the same person more than once, and that person, under the current structure and criminal justice system now, is walking the streets free.”

Her 52-year-old family business has lost more than $300,000 in merchandise loss and building repairs in the last few years, Negrete said. Some have advised Negrete start hiring armed security.

“We teach music lessons to children, I don’t need to have a guard in front of my store,” she said. “That’s not how it was when we started this business, and it’s sad to see it go that way.”

County and state officials must now verify the signatures before the measure is officially placed on the ballot. The ballot measure campaign needs at least 546,651 signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House congressional leaders were toiling Thursday on a delicate, bipartisan push toward weekend votes to approve a $95 billion package of foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as several other national security policies at a critical moment at home and abroad.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson this week set in motion a plan to advance the package, which has been held up since October by GOP lawmakers resistant to approving more funding for Ukraine’s fight against Russia. As the Republican speaker faced an outright rebellion from his right flank and growing threats for his ouster, it became clear that House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries would have to lend help to Johnson every step of the way.

“This is a very important message we are going to send to the world this week, and I’m anxious to get it done,” Johnson said earlier Wednesday announcing his strategy.

The growing momentum for a bipartisanship dynamic, a rarity in the deeply divided Congress, brought rare scenes of Republicans and Democrats working together to assert U.S. standing on the global stage and help American allies. But it also sent Johnson’s House Republican majority into fresh rounds of chaos.

Johnson’s Republican leadership team, seizing on the opportunity to outflank hardline conservatives with Democratic support, raised the idea of quickly changing the procedural rules to make it harder to oust the speaker from office.

But ultra-conservatives reacted with fury, angrily confronting Johnson on the House floor in a tense scene on Thursday morning. Several suggested they would join the effort to oust Johnson if the rule was changed. By the afternoon, Johnson backed away from the idea.

“We will continue to govern under the existing rules,” the speaker said on the social platform X.

Meanwhile, a rare image of bipartisan statesmanship was on display as the procedural Rules committee began debate launching the steps needed to push the foreign aid package forward toward weekend voting.

The Republican chairmen of the powerful Appropriations and Foreign Affairs committees alongside their top Democratic counterparts spoke in evocative language, some drawing on World War II history, to make the case for ensuring the U.S. stand with its allies against aggressors.

Chairman Michael McCaul of the Foreign Affairs Committee cast this as a “pivotal” time in world history, comparing the current images of people fleeing the conflict in Europe to the situation in 1939 as Hitler’s Germany rose to power.

“Time is not on our side,” he told the panel.

The top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Greg Meeks of New York, shared McCaul’s urgency: “The camera of history is rolling.”

Johnson is trying to advance a complex plan to hold individual votes this weekend on the funds for Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Asia-Pacific, then stitch the package back together.

The package would also include legislation that allows the U.S. to seize frozen Russian central bank assets to rebuild Ukraine; impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl; and potentially ban the video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year.

While Johnson is trying to remain close to Trump, and positioning the national security package as a way to assert U.S. strength in the world in the mold of Ronald Reagan-era Republicans, that puts the speaker politically at odds with the anti-interventionists powering the former president’s bid to return to the White House.

“Why isn’t Europe giving more money to help Ukraine?” Trump wrote on social media, but his post did not explicitly oppose the foreign aid package before Congress.

President Joe Biden is emphatically pushing Congress to pass the legislation to buttress what has been a cornerstone of his foreign policy — halting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advance in Europe.

“With the boost from supplemental assistance, Ukrainians are entirely capable of holding their own through 2024, and puncturing Putin’s arrogant view that time is on his side,” CIA Director Bill Burns told an audience at the Bush Center in Dallas Thursday.

Earlier, behind closed doors, Democratic leaders huddled with their caucus to discuss the foreign aid package and the extent to which they would help advance it through the procedural maneuvers in the Rules committee to bring it to the floor.

Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark told reporters after the meeting that Democrats were “open to helping.”

“This is a moment in history where we need to ensure that at long last we are bringing this critical aid to Ukraine to the floor,” she said.

The ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus was urging Republicans to block the package from advancing to a final vote. The group demanded that sweeping immigration enforcement be added to the bill and derided it as the “’America Last’ foreign wars supplemental package.”

Rarely, if ever, does the minority party help the majority through the procedural hoops, particularly at the House Rules committee or during the various floor votes before final passage. It would be a level of bipartisanship unseen in this Congress, even as Republican leaders watched their own priority bills defeated on procedural votes by their own members.

But given the high stakes of the moment for Ukraine, Israel and other allies, and the inability of Johnson to marshal enough Republican support, the speaker will have no other choice if he intends to see the national security package to passage.

Yet Democrats were also trying to apply maximum leverage as Johnson’s job comes under threat.

Privately, Clark advised rank and file lawmakers not to divulge their positions on whether they would vote to help defeat a motion to vacate Johnson as speaker, though a handful of Democrats have already publicly said they would likely do so.

“Do not box yourself in with a public statement,” Clark told them according to a person familiar with the remarks.

Lawmakers have said the world is watching and waiting on its next steps, but there’s still a long slog ahead. If the House is able to clear the package this weekend, it still must go to the Senate for another round of voting.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican of Kentucky who is adamantly opposed to the aid package, said on X that “no one should expect easy or quick passage in the Senate.”

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the deaths of four University of Idaho students in late 2022, was out for a drive the night they were killed, his attorneys said in a new court filing that lays out more details of the alibi defense he intends to use at his trial.

Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were stabbed to death at a rental home near the university campus in Moscow, Idaho, early on Nov. 13, 2022.

Kohberger, who was then a criminal justice student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington, has been charged with four counts of murder. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

Authorities have said that cellphone data or surveillance video shows that Kohberger visited the victims’ neighborhood at least a dozen times before the killings; that he traveled in the region that night, returning to Pullman along a roundabout route; and that his DNA was found at the crime scene.

His phone, however, was not communicating with his cellphone provider during about a two-hour period when the attacks occurred — consistent with him having turned it off to avoid being placed at the murder scene, police said.

Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s public defender, wrote in a court filing late Wednesday that Kohberger was an avid runner and hiker who frequently went out for drives late at night.

Under Idaho law, defendants may be required to notify prosecutors in advance of any alibi defense. In a filing last August, Taylor wrote that Kohberger’s alibi was that he was out driving alone that night, as he often did. Wednesday’s document offered more details, including at least one of his destinations — Wawawai Park, along the Snake River southwest of Pullman — in the opposite direction from Moscow.

“Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,” Taylor wrote. “He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park.”

The filing also detailed that the defense intends to offer the testimony of an expert in cellphone and cell tower data to support the notion that Kohberger did not travel east along the main road connecting Pullman and Moscow that night, Taylor wrote.

Police arrested Kohberger, 29, more than six weeks after the killings, locating him at his parents’ home in eastern Pennsylvania, where he had gone during winter break.

No date has been set for the trial.