WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 pushed it helped overcome a procedural hurdle to reach final votes this weekend. . Friday’s vote produced a result rarely seen in a typically hyper-partisan House, as Democrats helped Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan advance by a landslide 316-94. Final approval from the House could come this weekend, when the package is sent to the Senate.
It’s a victory for the strategy Johnson put in place this week after agonizing for two months over the legislation. Yet Johnson has had to spend the last 24 hours making the rounds in conservative media trying to drum up support for war financing, particularly for Ukraine faces a critical moment against Russiabut also for his own work, as efforts to remove him as president have increased.
“Ukrainians desperately need lethal aid right now. …We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to go through another country and take it over,” Johnson told conservative host of the Mark Levin Show about the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine . “These are very serious issues with global implications. »
Johnson said after the vote that while it was not “perfect legislation,” it was the “best possible product” that Republicans could achieve given their slim majority in one chamber of Congress.
After months of delay, the House worked slowly but deliberately once Johnson decided this week to move forward with a package that matches, with some modifications, what the Senate passed in February. President Joe Biden sent a rapid approval of the president’s plan and, in a rare moment, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who opposes most foreign aid to Ukraine, did not derail the president’s work.
“The world is watching what Congress does,” the White House said in a statement. “Passage of this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment. »
In an extremely rare move, members of the House Rules Committee joined forces Thursday evening in a vote around midnight, with all four Democrats lending their support on a procedural step, to overtake the three holdouts from the Republican majority and send the package to the House. floor for debate by a vote of 9 to 3. It was an unprecedented moment in recent memory of the House.
Speaking to reporters, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the aid package was the product of divided government.
Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries said he spoke with Johnson Thursday evening to ensure the bill would be approved by the Rules Committee.
“It’s high time we stood with our Democratic allies,” Jeffries said after the vote.
“House Democrats have once again paved the way for important legislation for the American people.”
Johnson will have to rely on Democrats again Saturday to reject Republican-proposed amendments that could kill the package. One from radical Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene would cut spending on Ukraine to zero.
Greene filed a “motion to expel” the president from office, and she attracted another supporter Friday as Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, co-sponsored the motion. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, another co-sponsor, suggested that before the House adjourns next week, others might follow, putting pressure on Johnson to resign.
Rep. Eli Crane, a hard-line conservative from Arizona, also said he was “open” to joining the push to oust Johnson.
“I really feel that there is a bitterness within the Republican leadership,” he said.
Greene could launch an effort to expel Johnson from the president’s office if she calls him for a vote, much like Republicans expelled Kevin McCarthy from office last fall. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, has not committed to helping Johnson retain the speaker’s gavel, although some Democrats have suggested they would be inclined to help defeat the nullification motion through procedural maneuvering.
With one of the narrowest majorities in the House of Representatives in modern times, Johnson can only afford to lose one or two votes in his Republican ranks to pass a bill. That dynamic has pushed him into the arms of Democrats as he seeks votes to pass the package.
Without his full support from the Republican majority, Johnson would not be able to shape the package as the ultra-conservatives demand, for fear of losing Democratic support. That forced him to abandon tough security measures to crack down on migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
At best, Johnson managed to split a Senate-passed version of the bill into separate parts, as is the preference of House Republicans, and final votes will be on separate measures — for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies.
The package would also include a fourth provision that would repeat many Republican priorities that Democrats support, or at least are willing to accept. These include proposals allowing the United States 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 video app TikTok if its China-based owner does not sell his stake within a year.
Rep. 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.” That we are going to support them and make sure we give them the support and help that they need, that we care about humanitarian concerns.”
He added that in his 26 years in the House, he has never seen one party need to help the other like Democrats did this week.
“It just shows how Republicans can’t manage the House and its floor to get things done,” Meeks said.
Republicans, even those who supported the process, were very disappointed that it had come to this.
“I’m concerned,” said Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., who voted for the procedural step but was nonetheless unhappy with the process. “This reflects the controversy in the country: how much aid is there?
Passing each bill, in votes expected Saturday, will require Johnson to form complex bipartisan coalitions on each, with Democrats, for example, ensuring aid to Ukraine is approved, but some left-leaning progressives refusing to support military aid to Israel following the destruction of Gaza. Jeffries nevertheless said a majority of Democrats would vote Saturday in favor of aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and their allies in Asia.
The components would then be automatically consolidated into a single package sent to the Senate, where hard-liners are also considering procedural measures to block final approval.
