Speaker Mike Johnson told Republicans on Wednesday that the House would vote Saturday night on his foreign aid package for Israel and Ukraine, overcoming opposition within his own party to advance a long-stalled national security spending package for U.S. allies .
His announcement came amid fierce opposition from Republicans, who vehemently oppose providing more aid to Ukraine and have been venting for days as members of Congress scramble to write the legislation Mr. Johnson proposed on Monday.
The speaker, whose job is in jeopardy as he opposes his right wing on the measure, also announced he would hold a separate vote on a border security bill “that contains the core components” of tough legislation from House Republicans, passed last May to crack down on illegal immigration and reinstate strict Trump-era border restrictions. The move was a nod to ultraconservatives who had demanded that the speaker not push forward aid to Ukraine without receiving sweeping concessions on immigration policy from Democrats.
The legislative package Mr. Johnson is trying to push is roughly the same as the $95 billion relief bill the Senate passed two months ago with aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and other American allies, but is divided into three parts, which are voted on individually. There would be a fourth vote on a separate measure that includes other measures popular with Republicans, including conditioning Ukraine aid as a loan and a measure that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban.
The legislation provides $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian assistance to civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific.
After Mr. Johnson released the text of the plan on Wednesday afternoon, President Biden endorsed it in a statement and called for its rapid passage.
“I strongly support this package to provide critical support to Israel and Ukraine, provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians in Gaza, and strengthen security and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Mr. Biden said. “I will put this into effect immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends and will not allow Iran or Russia to succeed.”
The multi-part plan was carefully structured to cobble together just enough support from Democrats and mainstream Republicans to override opposition from the hard right to Ukraine funding and left-wing Democrats who do not support full aid to Israel. If all four pieces were passed by the House, they would be combined into a single bill that could be passed by the Senate, ensuring that senators would not be able to cherry-pick the pieces they could approve or reject.
For success, everything must go well for Mr Johnson to prevail this week.
Mr Johnson has already had a difficult road ahead since he announced his intention to push ahead with the aid package on Monday evening, despite the loud objections of the Conservatives in his conference. On Tuesday, a Republican lawmaker announced he would join the effort to oust Mr. Johnson, which was led last month by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia.
The speaker faced a number of Republicans who tried to persuade him to abandon his plan in favor of more partisan proposals, such as completely cutting off aid to Ukraine. To ensure that enough lawmakers attended Saturday night’s vote to allow the legislative package to pass, he had to manage the schedules of lawmakers leaving Washington this weekend to attend fundraising events and planned delegation trips abroad.
Mr. Johnson will also almost certainly have to rely on Democrats to provide the necessary votes to clear the way for the issue – an unusual breach of custom – and Ukraine aid itself to be addressed. Several Republicans have said they will vote to block the package’s release in protest.
“Every true America First conservative in the House should vote against this borrowed foreign aid bill without border security!” Virginia Rep. Bob Good, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, wrote on social media.
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2024-04-17 21:09:39
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