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President Joe Biden<\/a> appeared to suggest over the weekend that Democrats had reached a new deal <\/a>with embattled House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Ukraine aid <\/a>\u2013 a major omission from a funding bill that managed to avert a government shutdown.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just made one about Ukraine. So, we\u2019ll find out,\u201d Biden said when a reporter asked whether he would trust McCarthy when the \u201cnext deal comes around.\u201d<\/p>\n The remark left open the prospect Biden had secured some new agreement from McCarthy to take up new funding for Ukraine,<\/a> despite opposition from some hardline Republicans.<\/p>\n The comments prompted Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz \u2013 a Florida Republican who is promising to take action this week to try to oust McCarthy from his speakership post \u2013 to call on McCarthy to share more about \u201chis secret side deal with Joe Biden on Ukraine. I\u2019ll be listening.\u201d<\/p>\n Multiple Democratic lawmakers serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee told CNN on Monday that they had no reason to believe that McCarthy had made a fresh commitment to the White House over the weekend on Ukraine funding.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t seen or heard of specific assurances,\u201d one member said.<\/p>\n Another said they assumed Biden had been referring to an earlier government funding agreement that was reached over the summer.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not believe there was a new assurance issued,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n During a Cabinet meeting Monday afternoon, Biden said he \u201cfully expects\u201d McCarthy and a majority of Republicans to approve new funding for Ukraine but declined to say whether he\u2019d received any specific assurances on the matter ahead of this week\u2019s passage of a stopgap government funding measure.<\/p>\n \u201cI fully expect the speaker and the majority of the Republicans in Congress to keep their commitment to secure the passage of the support needed to help Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression and brutality,\u201d Biden said.<\/p>\n But, pressed by CNN about the precise nature of that commitment, he remained silent and wouldn\u2019t answer whether he\u2019d received any new assurances from McCarthy about taking up new Ukraine funding \u2013 or even whether he trusted the Republican speaker.<\/p>\n Asked earlier Monday about what specific assurances Biden had secured on Ukraine aid from McCarthy, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly demurred.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s obviously bipartisan support to continue the funding to Ukraine,\u201d she said when asked whether Biden was referring to any specific agreement from McCarthy to take up new Ukraine funding.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing currently from Congress is there has been \u2013 there has been overwhelming support,\u201d she added later, declining to say what exactly Biden was referring to when he told reporters he\u2019d made a deal with McCarthy on Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to go beyond what the president said,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Asked whether the White House had engaged in any backchannel negotiations with the speaker on Ukraine, she suggested it wasn\u2019t necessary.<\/p>\n And she declined to detail any one-on-one conversations Biden has held on Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t have anything to confirm,\u201d she said, without ruling it out.<\/p>\n Speaking on Capitol Hill earlier Monday, McCarthy told reporters he didn\u2019t interpret the president\u2019s remarks as implying there was a new deal.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think the president implied that at all,\u201d McCarthy said, adding: \u201cI believe Ukraine is very important. I have always supported arming Ukraine \u2013 that\u2019s not sending money to Ukraine, that\u2019s arming Ukraine the weaponry to defend. But I think it\u2019s very important with the number of Americans who are dying that we get the border done.\u201d<\/p>\n The speaker later doubled down in remarks to reporters: \u201cThere is no side deal, so I don\u2019t know who is bringing that up.\u201d<\/p>\n The administration has worked since Saturday\u2019s passage of the funding measure to shore up allies, reiterating the wide bipartisan support for Ukraine that still remains in Congress.<\/p>\n Biden was expected to speak with allies in the coming days to reiterate the point, according to people familiar with the matter. The White House said it did not have any calls to preview.<\/p>\n In the lead-up to Saturday, administration officials had lobbied intensely for new Ukraine funding to be included in a short-term spending bill. A top official from the Pentagon told lawmakers in a letter on Friday that the Department of Defense \u201chas exhausted nearly all available security assistance funding for Ukraine,\u201d offering stark warnings about the battlefield effects of failing to pass new assistance.<\/p>\n Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had also made appeals ahead of the spending deadline to include new Ukraine funding.<\/p>\n For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n