Ukraine and Israel Aid Bill Progresses in House Thanks to Rare Democratic-Republican Cooperation

WASHINGTON – A strong coalition of members helped the House overcome a procedural obstacle to go forward with a $95 billion foreign aid package for Taiwan, Israel, Ukraine, and humanitarian assistance this weekend. This movement demonstrated unusual bipartisan enthusiasm in the chamber.

In the usually ultrapartisan House, Friday’s vote produced an uncommon result: Democrats overwhelmingly supported Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan, 316-94. The measure would be delivered to the Senate this weekend after receiving final House approval.

After he suffered for two months over the legislation, Johnson’s tactics this week proved successful. Nevertheless, Johnson had to spend the last twenty-four hours scouring conservative media for ways to salvage support for the wartime funds, especially for Ukraine, which is facing a dire situation in its conflict with Russia, but also for his career as the movement to remove him from his position as speaker intensified.

“Lethal aid is urgently needed by Ukrainians right now. Regarding the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine, Johnson told the conservative host of The Mark Levin Show, “We cannot allow Vladimir Putin to roll through another country and take it.” “These are grave issues that affect the entire world.”

Following the vote, Johnson stated that although the law wasn’t “perfect,” it was the “best possible product” that Republicans could obtain with their slim majority in one chamber of Congress.

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Following months of inaction, the House moved slowly but methodically this week after Johnson decided to move forward with a package that, with minor adjustments, is similar to what the Senate passed in February. In a rare move, Donald Trump—the Republican front-runner who opposes the majority of foreign aid to Ukraine—has not obstructed the speaker’s efforts. President Joe Biden swiftly endorsed the speaker’s plan.

The White House released a statement saying, “The world is watching what the Congress does.” “Passing this legislation at this critical juncture would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership.”

The four Democrats supported a procedural move that allowed the Republican majority to push past the three hardline holdouts and send the package to the House floor for debate on a 9-3 vote. This was an incredibly rare display of unity among the members of the House Rules Committee. It was a moment not seen in the House’s recent history.

House Speaker Mike Johnson claims in an interview with reporters that the aid package is the result of a divided government.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats, stated that he had a conversation with Johnson on Thursday evening to make sure the bill would pass the Rules Committee.

Following the vote, Jeffries declared, “It’s long past time that we support our democratic allies.”

“House Democrats have once again paved the path for legislation that the people of the United States need.”

Once more, Johnson will have to rely on Democrats. Saturday to rescind Republican-proposed modifications that would destroy the package. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hardliner, proposed cutting all funding to Ukraine.

Greene has presented a “motion to vacate” the speaker from office, and on Friday, a Republican congressman from Arizona, Rep. Paul Gosar, joined him in supporting the petition. Another co-sponsor, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, proposed that additional co-sponsors follow before the House adjourns next week, thereby increasing pressure on Johnson to resign.

Hardline Republican congressman from Arizona, Rep. Eli Crane, also declared that he was “open” to supporting the effort to remove Johnson.

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He declared, “I feel like the Republican leadership is souring.”

If Johnson calls for a vote, Greene might attempt to remove her from the speaker’s office like how Republicans removed Kevin McCarthy from the role last year. Although some Democrats have indicated they would be inclined to assist in defeating the move to vacate through procedural means, Democratic leader Jeffries has been hesitant to support Johnson in keeping the speaker’s gavel.

Having one of the narrowest House majorities in recent memory, Johnson has to approve any bill with just one or two votes lost from his Republican base. Due to this dynamic, he has been drawn toward Democrats in his quest for support for the package.

Johnson was unable to sculpt the package to satisfy the demands of the ultra-conservatives without the complete support of the Republican majority, for fear of losing Democratic support. He had to abandon strict security protocols to impose a border clampdown on migration between the United States and Mexico.

As preferred by House Republicans, Johnson has at most divided the Senate-passed bill into discrete sections. The final votes will be on separate bills about Ukraine, Israel, and friends in the Indo-Pacific region.

A fourth item in the package would include numerous Republican priorities that Democrats support or are at the very least ready to tolerate. These include plans to sanction China, Iran, Russia, and organizations that traffic in fentanyl; to allow the United States to seize assets from the frozen Russian central bank to rebuild Ukraine; and to potentially outlaw the video app TikTok if its Chinese owner doesn’t sell their share within a year.

The vote demonstrated to “the world that Democrats understand the world and our allies,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. that we care about humanitarian issues and that we will stand by them to ensure that they receive the help and support they require.

In his 26 years in the House, he continued, he had never witnessed one party being forced to assist the other way Democrats did this week.

Meeks remarked, “It just goes to show how the Republicans can’t run the House and the House floor to get things done.”

Republicans were deeply saddened that it had come to this, even those who supported the process.

Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., expressed his concerns about the process despite voting in favor of the procedural step. “This reflects the national controversy over the amount of aid.”

Johnson will need to build intricate bipartisan coalitions on each item for it to pass, with votes on Saturday. For example, Democrats will need to ensure that help to Ukraine is allowed, but some left-leaning progressives will not support military funding for Israel due to Gaza’s destruction. Nevertheless, Jeffries predicted that most Democrats will support the aid packages for Israel, Ukraine, and other Asian allies on Saturday.

The constituent parts would subsequently be automatically assembled into a unified package and forwarded to the Senate, where extremists are preparing procedural maneuvers to delay ultimate ratification.