The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to approve $95 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, while Speaker Mike Johnson jeopardized his job of advancing the long-stalled aid package by mobilized the support of mainstream Republicans and Democrats.
In four consecutive votes, an overwhelming bipartisan coalition of lawmakers approved new rounds of funding for the three U.S. allies, as well as another bill designed to sweeten the deal for conservatives and could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok.
The scene in the House reflected both the broad support in Congress for continuing to help the Ukrainian military push back against Russia and the extraordinary political risk Mr. Johnson was taking to defy the anti-interventionist wing of his party, which had sought to to thwart this measure. Minutes before the vote on support for Kiev, Democrats began waving small Ukrainian flags in the House chamber as far-right Republicans jeered.
The legislation provides $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian assistance to civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region. It would direct the president to require the Ukrainian government to repay $10 billion in economic aid, a concept supported by former President Donald J. Trump, who had pushed for any aid to Kyiv to come in the form of a loan should be made. But it would also allow the president to forgive these loans starting in 2026.
It also included a measure intended to pave the way for the sale of frozen Russian state assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort, as well as a new round of sanctions against Iran. The Senate is expected to pass the bill and send it to President Biden’s desk as early as Tuesday, ending its torturous journey through Congress.
“Our adversaries are working together to undermine our Western values and weaken our democracy,” Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday as the House debated the measure. “We cannot be afraid at this moment. We have to do the right thing. Evil is on the rise. History is calling and now is the time to act.”
“History will judge us today by our actions,” he continued. “As we consider this vote, you must ask yourself the question: ‘Am I Chamberlain or Churchill?'”
The vote was 311-112 in favor of aid to Ukraine, with a majority of Republicans – 112 – voting against and one, Rep. Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, voting “present.” The House of Representatives approved aid to Israel by a vote of 366 to 58; and for Taiwan, 385 to 34, with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, voting “present.” The bill, which would impose sanctions on Iran and require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States, passed by a vote of 360-58.
“Today, members of both parties in the House of Representatives voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage,” Mr. Biden said. “At this critical juncture, they came together to answer the call of history and pass urgently needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to enact.”
Minutes after the vote, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked lawmakers and praised Mr. Johnson by name “for the decision that sets history on the right path.”
“Democracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps protect them,” he wrote on social media. “The important U.S. relief bill passed by the House of Representatives today will prevent the spread of war, save thousands upon thousands of lives and help our two nations grow stronger.”
Outside the Capitol, a cheering crowd waved Ukrainian flags and chanted “Thank you, USA” while outgoing lawmakers gave them a thumbs up and waved smaller flags of their own.
For months it was uncertain whether Congress would approve new funding for Ukraine, although momentum was shifting in Moscow’s favor. This triggered a wave of fear in Kiev and across Europe that the United States, the largest donor of military aid to Ukraine, was turning its back on the young democracy.
And it raised questions about whether the political unrest that has rocked the United States has actually destroyed the long-strong bipartisan consensus in favor of spreading American values around the world. The last time Congress approved a major tranche of funding for Ukraine was in 2022, before Republicans took control of the House of Representatives.
With an “America First” sentiment sweeping the party’s voter base, led by Mr. Trump, Republicans protested last year against another aid package for Kiev, saying the matter should not even be considered unless Mr. Biden agreed to tough anti-immigration measures. When Senate Democrats approved a bill earlier this year that combined the aid with tougher border control provisions, Trump condemned it and Republicans rejected it outright.
But after the Senate passed its own $95 billion emergency aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan without any immigration measures, Mr. Johnson began telling allies — first privately, then loudly — that he would ensure that the U.S would send help to Kiev.
Ultimately, despite threats of an overthrow from ultra-conservative lawmakers, he bypassed the hardline division that was once his political home and relied on Democrats to push the measure through. It was a remarkable turnaround for a right-wing MP who, as a rank-and-file member, had repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine and said just a few months ago that he would never allow the issue to come to a vote before his election over the party’s border demands were fulfilled.
In the days before the vote, Mr. Johnson began forcefully arguing that Congress’s job was to help Ukraine fend off the overtures of an authoritarian regime. Mr Johnson warned that Russian forces could march through the Baltics and Poland if Ukraine falls and said he made the decision to give aid to Kiev because he would “rather send bullets into Ukraine than into American boys” .
“I think this is an important moment and an important opportunity to make this decision,” Mr. Johnson told reporters at the Capitol after the votes. “I think we’ve done our job here and I think history will judge it well.”
Mr Johnson structured the measures, sent to the Senate as a bill, to attract diverse coalitions of support without allowing opposition to any single element to derail the whole.
“I will give every single member of the House of Representatives the opportunity to vote according to their conscience and their will,” he had said.
In a nod to right-wing demands, Mr Johnson allowed a vote on a tough border control measure shortly before the foreign aid bills, but it was rejected because the two-thirds majority needed for passage could not be reached. And the speaker refused to link the immigration bill to the foreign aid package, knowing that would effectively kill the spending plan.
His decision to move forward with the package angered ultra-conservatives in his conference, who accused Mr. Johnson of breaking his promise not to allow a vote on foreign aid without first securing sweeping policy concessions on the southern border. That prompted two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona, to join a bid by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to oust Mr. Johnson from his top job.
Ms. Greene claimed the Ukraine aid bill supports “a business model built on blood, murder and war abroad.”
“We should allocate funds to build up our weapons and ammunition, not to send them abroad,” she said, before her proposal to cut funding to Kiev to zero failed by 351 votes to 71.
Much of the funding for Ukraine is intended to replenish U.S. stockpiles after supplies are delivered to Kiev.
Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Congress has appropriated $113 billion in funding to support Ukraine’s war effort. According to the Institute for Study of War, a Washington-based research group, $75 billion was allocated directly to the country for humanitarian, financial and military assistance, and another $38 billion in security-related funding was spent largely in the United States .
Republicans’ far-right opposition to the bill – both in the House and on the critical Rules Committee – forced Mr. Johnson to rely on Democrats to push the law through the finish line.
“If Ukraine does not receive the support it needs to repel Russia’s outrageous attack on its sovereign territory, the legacy of this Congress will be the appeasement of a dictator, the destruction of an allied nation and a fragmented Europe,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee. “Our credibility will be lost in the eyes of our allies and our adversaries. And gone will be the America that promised to stand up for freedom, democracy and human rights wherever they are threatened or attacked.”
Thirty-seven Liberal Democrats rejected the $26 billion aid package for Israel because the bill did not provide conditions for how Israel could use American funds, given widespread civilian casualties and a looming famine in Gaza. This showed a significant decline in long-standing bipartisan support for Israel in Congress, but was a relatively small bloc of opposition as left-wing lawmakers had pushed for a big “no” vote on the bill to send a message to Mr. Biden about the Depth of resistance within his political coalition to his support of Israeli war tactics.
“Supplying more weapons to the Netanyahu government will make the United States even more responsible for the atrocities and terrible humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is currently in a time of famine,” Rep. Jonathan L. Jackson, Democrat, testified Illinois.
Carl Hulse, Annie Karni and Kayla Guo reported from Washington and Marc Santora from Kiev.
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2024-04-21 19:06:53
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