Washington — With rare bipartisan momentum, the House on Friday advanced a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian support as a strong coalition of lawmakers cleared a procedural hurdle to reach a final vote later this week. Helped to overcome. Friday's vote produced a result rarely seen in the normally hyper-partisan House, with Democrats helping advance Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's plan 316-94. Final House approval could come later this week, when the package will be sent to the Senate.
It was a victory for the strategy Johnson implemented this week after two months of agonizing over the legislation. Still, Johnson had to spend the last 24 hours making the rounds of the conservative media to salvage support for wartime funding, particularly for Ukraine as it faces a critical moment fighting Russia, but Even for his own job in an effort to oust them. As the speaker continued.
“Ukrainians are in desperate need of lethal aid at this time. … We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to go in and take over another country,” Johnson told the conservative host of The Mark Levin Show about the Russian president's invasion of Ukraine. “These are very These are serious matters.”
Johnson said after the vote that although it was not “perfect legislation”, it was “the best possible product” that Republicans could give given their slim majority in one house of Congress.
After months of delay, the House moved slowly but deliberately, once Johnson made up his mind to move forward this week with a package that matches, with a few changes, the package passed by the Senate in February. President Joe Biden quickly endorsed the Speaker's plan and, in a rare moment, Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who opposes most foreign aid to Ukraine, has not derailed the Speaker's work. .
“The world is watching what Congress does,” the White House said in a statement. “Passing this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a critical moment.”
In an extremely rare move, members of the House Rules Committee joined in the near-midnight vote late Thursday, with four Democrats throwing their support behind a procedural move to send the package to the House, allowing three hard-line holdouts of the Republican majority to advance. Can be increased. Forum for debate on 9-3 vote. It was a moment unseen in recent House memory.
Democratic leader Representative Hakeem Jeffries said he spoke to Johnson Thursday night to make sure the bill would clear the Rules Committee.
“It's high time we supported our Democratic colleagues,” Jeffries said after the vote.
“House Democrats have once again cleared the way for legislation that matters to the American people.”
Johnson will need to rely on Democrats again on Friday to approve the next procedural vote and to withdraw amendments introduced by Republicans that could kill the package. One of the radicals, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, would drop spending to Ukraine to zero.
Greene has filed a “motion to vacate” the speaker from the office, and it attracted another supporter on Friday, as Arizona Republican Representative Paul Gosar co-sponsored the motion. Another co-sponsor, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, suggested others could follow suit before the House breaks next week to pressure Johnson to step down.
Representative Eli Crane of Arizona, a hardline conservative, also said he was “open” to joining the move to remove Johnson.
“I definitely think there is a sourness in the Republican leadership,” he said.
Greene could make a bid to oust Johnson from the speaker's office, should she call for a vote, just as Republicans did the last time they ousted Kevin McCarthy from office. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, remained uncommitted to helping Johnson retain the speakership.
With one of the narrowest House majorities in modern times, Johnson can only afford to lose a vote or two from his Republican ranks to pass any bill. That dynamic has pushed him into the arms of Democrats as he looks for the votes to pass the package.
Without the full support of his Republican majority, Johnson cannot shape the package as ultra-conservatives demand, otherwise he will lose Democratic support. It has forced him to leave behind tighter security measures and other priorities to crack down on migrants at the US-Mexico border.
At best, Johnson is able to build the Senate-passed version of the bill into separate pieces, as is a preference among House Republicans, and final votes will be on individual measures — for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies. .
The package would also include a fourth provision that would include several Republican priorities that Democrats support, or at least are willing to accept. They include proposals that would allow the US to seize frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukraine's reconstruction; Sanction Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffick in fentanyl, and potentially ban the video app TikTok if the China-based owner does not sell its stake within a year.
Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the vote showed the world that Democrats understand the world and our allies. We will stand with them and ensure that we give them the support and assistance they need, we care about humanitarian concerns.
He said that in his 26 years in the House, he has never seen one party have to help the other like the Democrats did this week.
“It just shows how Republicans can't manage the House and the House floor to get things done,” Meeks said.
Republicans, even those who had supported the process, were deeply disappointed by the situation it reached.
“I'm concerned,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who voted for the procedural step but was still unhappy with the process. “This reflects the controversy in the country: How much aid?”
Passing each bill in votes expected Saturday will require Johnson to build complex bipartisan coalitions on each, with Democrats ensuring, for example, that Ukraine aid is approved, but some left-leaning progressives supporting the Gaza destruction. But are refusing to support military aid to Israel. Still, Jeffries said most Democrats on Saturday will vote for an aid package for Ukraine, Israel and allies in Asia.
The components would then be automatically pieced back together into a package sent to the Senate, where hard-liners are also planning procedural steps to prevent final approval.
(TagstoTranslate)2024 United States presidential election