On Friday, the House cleared a procedural hurdle to move legislation that would grant billions of dollars in blocked security money for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, bringing the measures closer to passage this weekend.
The full House, with wide bipartisan support, approved the rule enabling debate on the legislative package, 316 to 94. Democrats ultimately received more votes than Republicans—165 Democrats voted in favor, 39 opposed, and 151 Republicans voted in favor, 55 opposed.
After the procedural vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters he was “happy the rule passed” and that if it hadn’t, a discharge petition would have compelled the House to accept the Senate version of the bill, which he referred to as a “blank check for foreign aid.”
“Even though it’s not the perfect legislation, it’s not the legislation that we worked on [that] we would write if Republicans were in charge of the House, the Senate, and the White House; this is the best possible product that we can get under these circumstances to take care of these really important obligations,” he told reporters.
The House will vote on final approval Saturday afternoon, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has requested senators be prepared to vote on the package over the weekend. President Biden has stated that he will sign it into law.
The House Rules Committee reconvened late Thursday night and advanced the rule for the package 9-3, with votes from all four Democrats on the committee: ranking member Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, Colorado Representative Joe Neguse, and New Mexico Representative Teresa Leger Fernández.
Reps. Tom Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Chip Roy of Texas, the conservative Republican hardliners on the committee, all voted against the rule because border security was unrelated to foreign aid. However, the speaker stated that he would put an “aggressive” border law to a vote on Friday. It did not clear the Rules Committee, but the House will debate it with the rules suspended, which means it will need two-thirds support to pass.
The three foreign aid bills would pay $26.4 billion to Israel, $60.8 billion to Ukraine, and $8.1 billion to oppose China in the Indo-Pacific, including billions going to Taiwan. The Israel package also includes more than $9.1 billion to assist Palestinian humanitarian needs, which Democrats argued was required for their approval.
A fourth bill aims to fulfill additional GOP foreign policy concerns. In particular, it would allow the sale of frozen Russian oligarch assets to help fund future Ukrainian aid, perhaps forcing the sale of TikTok and authorizing stronger penalties against Russia, China, and Iran.
If all of the legislation passes the House, it will be bundled into a single package and sent to the Senate, according to the rules.
President Biden stated that he would sign the package into law and urged the House to pass it this week and the Senate to act fast. Next week, both houses will be in recess.
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, made the plan on Monday amid growing pressure from members of both parties to vote on a bipartisan Senate measure that includes help for the United States’ allies. The Senate’s February $95 billion supplemental funding proposal has languished in the House for months as Johnson grapples with the next steps.
Foreign aid has created profound splits among House Republicans. Some on the far right have threatened to remove Johnson from the speakership over extra financing for Ukraine, which they oppose. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia is leading the campaign, which already has two supporters: Massie and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona.
Johnson defended his decision on Wednesday, saying giving Ukraine deadly help was “critically important.”
“If I operated in fear of a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job,” Johnson told reporters.
“Look, history judges us for what we do,” he remarked, adding, “Now is a vital time on the global stage. I could make a selfish decision to do something different. But I am doing what I think is the correct thing.”
Republican Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado warned, “This could be the beginning of the end for the speaker.”
