President Mike Johnson told Republicans on Wednesday that the House would vote Saturday night on his foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine, pushing his own party to advance a national security spending package for the states’ allies. -United, blocked for a long time.
His announcement comes amid strong opposition from Republicans who vehemently oppose sending additional aid to Ukraine and have been venting for days as congressional aides rush to draft the legislation proposed by Mr Johnson on Monday.
The legislative package Mr Johnson is trying to propose roughly reflects the A $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago with aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other U.S. allies, but split into three pieces that would be voted on individually.
There would be a fourth vote on a separate measure containing other policies popular among Republicans, including conditioning aid to Ukraine on a loan, a measure that could lead to a nationwide ban on TikTok and new sanctions against Iran. It would also pave the way for the sale of Russian sovereign assets that have been frozen, to help finance the Ukrainian war effort.
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.
“We passed the Senate supplemental bill and we improved the process and the policy, and that’s a really important thing,” Mr. Johnson said on Fox News on Wednesday. “Each member can vote according to their own conscience. »
In another interview a few minutes later on CNN, he added: “We are not the policeman of the world, but we are going to do the right thing. And I think Congress is going to take an important position.”
After Mr. Johnson released the text of the aid plan on Wednesday afternoon, President Biden endorsed it in a statement and called for its speedy passage.
“I strongly support this program to provide essential support to Israel and Ukraine, provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza, and strengthen security and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” he said. Mr. Biden said. “I will immediately sign this law to send a message to the world: we stand with our friends and we will not let Iran or Russia succeed. »
The multi-part plan was carefully structured to muster just enough support from mainstream Democrats and Republicans to pass, in the face of hard-right opposition to Ukraine funding and left-wing Democrats who do not support a unhindered aid to Israel. If all four items were passed by the House, they would then be consolidated into a single bill that the Senate could pass, with the goal of ensuring that senators cannot select which items to approve or reject.
Success will require everything to go right for Mr Johnson to win this week.
Mr Johnson has already faced a difficult road since announcing his intention to press ahead with the aid package on Monday evening, despite vehement objections from Tories at his conference. On Tuesday, a GOP lawmaker announced that he would join the candidacy to oust Mr. Johnson, led last month by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia.
The speaker encountered a parade of Republicans who tried to convince him to abandon his plan in favor of more partisan proposals, such as abandoning aid to Ukraine altogether. To ensure enough lawmakers were present for Saturday night’s votes to pass the legislative package, he had to manage the schedules of lawmakers wanting to leave Washington this weekend to attend fundraisers. and plan delegation trips abroad.
Mr Johnson will also almost certainly have to rely on Democrats to provide votes It is necessary to clear the way so that it can fall on the ground, in an unusual break with customs, and for Ukraine itself to help. A number of Republicans said they would vote to prevent the package from being introduced in protest.
“Every true America First conservative patriot in the House should vote against the rule on this bill on borrowed foreign aid without border security!” » Rep. Bob Good of Virginia, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, wrote on social media.
Another spasm of resistance came later Wednesday night, when three conservatives on the House Rules Committee signaled they intended to block Mr. Johnson from introducing a security bill borders for a vote on Saturday, as part of a broader protest against his bill. management of the legislative package.
Mr. Johnson had earlier announced that he would hold a separate vote on a border security bill “that includes the essential elements” of the House Republicans’ tough legislation, adopted last May, it would crack down on illegal immigration and restore the harsh border restrictions of the Trump era. It was a nod to ultraconservatives who demanded that the speaker not advance aid to Ukraine without securing sweeping concessions from Democrats on immigration policy.
But hard-liners on the panel said the planned vote was just a show — because it would not be incorporated into the foreign aid package and the Senate would not be forced to pass it .
“This is not the way we should do business,” said Rep. Chip Roy, Republican of Texas. “I believe this is part of a larger effort to pass something for very politically expedient purposes that I officially disagree with.”
