Democrats took the unusual step Thursday to help Republican leaders push through a bill that would provide billions of dollars in security funding to stalled Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, putting the bill on track for passage this weekend. came close to passing.
After adjourning for about nine hours, the House Rules Committee reconvened late Thursday night and approved Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson's foreign aid bill, thanks to votes from all four Democrats sitting on the committee. passed by a vote of 9 to 3. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, Colorado Representative Joe Neguse, and New Mexico Representative Teresa Ledger Fernandez.
The committee's conservative Republicans, Rep. Tom Massie of Kentucky, Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, and Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, all argue that border security is not bundled with foreign aid. Therefore, I voted against this rule. But the speaker plans to bring an “aggressive” border bill to a vote on Friday morning. The bill did not pass the Rules Committee, but the House will consider it under a suspension of rules, which would require two-thirds support for passage.
The House is scheduled to vote on final passage of the foreign aid package this weekend.
The three foreign aid bills provide $26.4 billion to aid Israel, $60.8 billion to aid Ukraine, and $8.1 billion to counter China in the Indo-Pacific region, including billions of dollars for Taiwan. Israel's measure also includes more than $9.1 billion to address Palestinian humanitarian needs, which Democrats say is necessary to help the Palestinians.
The fourth bill aims to address other Republican foreign policy priorities. In particular, it would allow the Russian oligarchy to sell frozen assets to fund future aid to Ukraine, potentially forcing aid to Ukraine. TikTok sales and approve tougher sanctions against Russia, China and Iran.
President Biden said he would sign the bill into law, which the House passed this week and urged the Senate to quickly follow suit. Both chambers are scheduled to adjourn next week.
Mr. Johnson is a Republican from Louisiana. announced a proposal The move came Monday amid mounting pressure from lawmakers from both parties to vote on a bipartisan Senate package that includes aid to U.S. allies.of $95 billion in additional funding package The bill, which passed the House of Lords in February, has been stalled in the House of Commons for several months as Prime Minister Boris Johnson debates the way forward.
Foreign aid has created deep divisions among House Republicans, with some on the far right opposing it, threatening to oust Johnson as speaker over additional funding for Ukraine.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended his decision on Wednesday, saying it was “very important” to provide deadly aid to Ukraine.
“If I acted out of fear of an eviction motion, I would never be able to do my job,” Johnson told reporters.
“Look, history is judging our actions,” he added. “This is a critical moment on the world stage. We can make selfish decisions and do things differently. You’ll know you can do it.’ But I’m doing what I believe is right here. ”
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert predicted that “this could be the beginning of the end for the Speaker.”
Elise Kim, Nicole Killion, Laura Garrison and Kristin Brown contributed reporting.
