The House was moving toward passage of a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Saturday, as Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line to advance the stalled legislation for a long time, in defiance of hard-liners in his own party.
Lawmakers were scheduled to vote separately Saturday afternoon on aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as another bill that includes a measure that could result in a nationwide ban on TikTok and new sanctions against ‘Iran. The fourth bill aimed to sweeten the deal for conservatives.
Mr Johnson structured the measures, which will be merged into one after each element is approved, to capture different coalitions of support without allowing opposition to any one element to derail the whole deal. Each of the aid bills for the three countries is expected to pass by an overwhelming majority. The Senate is expected to consider the bill as early as Tuesday and send it to President Biden’s desk, completing its tortuous path to signing into law.
The legislation includes $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid to civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region. It would direct the president to demand repayment of $10 billion in economic aid from the Ukrainian government, a stipulation supported by former President Donald J. Trump, who insisted that any aid to Ukraine take the form of a loan. But the legislation would also allow the president to forgive these loans starting in 2026.
The scene expected to unfold in the House on Saturday will reflect both the broad bipartisan support in Congress for continued aid to the Ukrainian military to repel Russian forces, and the extraordinary political risk taken by Mr. Johnson to challenge anti-political measures. interventionist wing of his party which had blocked the measure for months. Ultimately, the speaker, himself an ultraconservative who had previously voted against funding Ukraine’s war effort, bypassed his right flank and counted on Democrats to pass the measure.
“Our adversaries are working together to undermine our Western values and demean our democracy,” Rep. Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday as the House debated the measure. “We can’t be afraid right now. We must do what is right. Evil is on the move. History calls us and now is the time to act.
“History will judge us by our actions here today,” he continued. “As we deliberate on this vote, you must ask yourself this question: ‘Am I Chamberlain or Churchill?’ »
For months, it was unclear whether Congress would approve a new round of funding for Ukraine, even as the dynamics of the war there shifted in Russia’s favor. Republicans opposed a new aid package for Kyiv unless President Biden agreed to tough anti-immigration measures, then refused to pass legislation pairing the aid with tougher immigration provisions. border control.
But after the Senate passed its own legislation on $95 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, Mr. Johnson began — first privately, then loudly — to proclaim that he would ensure that the United States would “do its job” and send aid to kyiv, sticking to his vow even in the face of a threat of ouster from the right.
Warning that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin could send forces to the Balkans and Poland if Ukraine falls, Mr. Johnson said he made the decision to advance aid to kyiv because he “would rather shoot bullets at Ukraine than at American boys.” »
“My son is going to start at the Naval Academy this fall,” Mr. Johnson told reporters at the Capitol earlier this week. “This is a live-fire exercise for me, as it is for so many American families. This is not a game. This is not a joke. We cannot make politics on this. We must do the right thing, and I will give every member of the House the opportunity to vote their conscience and their will.
His decision infuriated ultraconservative Republicans who accused Mr. Johnson of reneging on his promise not to advance foreign aid without first securing sweeping policy concessions on the southern border. On Friday, a third Republican, Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona, announced his support for ousting Mr. Johnson from the presidency because of the decision.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is leading the effort to impeach Mr. Johnson, attempted Saturday to propose an amendment to the aid package that would essentially eliminate funding for Ukraine, saying the legislation supported “a business model based on blood, murder and war in foreign countries.
“We should finance the manufacture of our weapons and ammunition, not send them abroad,” she said.
Much of the funding for the aid program is intended to replenish U.S. stockpiles.
Republican opposition to the measure — both in the House and in the critical Rules Committee — forced Mr. Johnson to rely on Democrats to pass it, which they did in a critical test vote on Friday.
“We are here today to finally do the work of the people; doing what we should have done months ago,” Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday. “Support our friends, support our allies around the world, and allay doubts about whether or not America is a reliable partner, whether or not the United States will continue to lead on the world stage.”
One of the bills debated Saturday would help pave the way for selling frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund Ukraine’s war effort. U.S. allies, including France and Germany, have been skeptical about the viability of such a move under international law and have instead insisted that interest income from the nearly $300 billion Russian assets frozen either directly to Ukraine or in the form of loans or as collateral for borrowing money.
The bill would also impose sanctions on Iranian and Russian officials and further limit the export of U.S. technology used to make Iranian drones.
Lawmakers are also expected to vote on a series of amendments, including two proposed by Republicans that would eliminate or limit funding to Ukraine. These efforts are expected to fail.
Alan Rappport reports contributed.
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