House on the brink of approving Ukraine and Israel aid after months of struggle

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives, in a rare Saturday session, is preparing to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, Democrats and Republicans backing the legislation after a grueling months-long battle over renewed U.S. support for the repelling the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Putting his job on the line, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson relied on Democrats’ support this week to trigger a series of votes on three relief bills, as well as a fourth that would include several other proposals for foreign policy. If the votes are successful, the package will go to the Senate, where passage is all but assured in the coming days. President Joe Biden has pledged to sign it immediately.

Passage through the House of Representatives would clear the biggest hurdle to Biden’s funding request, which was first made in October as Ukraine’s military supplies ran low. The Republican Party-controlled House of Representatives, skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine, struggled for months with what to do. It first demanded that any aid be tied to policy changes at the U.S. southern border — then immediately rejected a bipartisan Senate offer to that effect.

Reaching an endgame has been an excruciating boost for Johnson, testing both his resolve and his support among Republicans, with a small but growing number now openly calling for his removal from the speaker’s office. Yet congressional leaders are casting their vote as a turning point in history — an urgent sacrifice as America’s allies are besieged by wars and threats from continental Europe to the Middle East and Asia.

“The only thing that has kept terrorists and tyrants at bay is the perception of a strong America, that we would stay strong,” Johnson said this week. “And we will. I think Congress is going to show that. This is a very important message that we’re going to send to the world.”

Yet Congress has seen a stream of visiting world leaders in recent months, from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, all but begging lawmakers to approve the aid. Globally, the delay caused many to question America’s commitment to its allies.

Also at stake is one of Biden’s top foreign policy priorities: halting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s advance in Europe. After holding quiet talks with Johnson, the president quickly endorsed Johnson’s plan this week, clearing the way for Democrats to lend their rare support to overcome the procedural hurdles needed for a final vote.

“It is long overdue that we stand with our democratic allies in Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific and provide humanitarian assistance to civilians at risk in conflict zones like Gaza, Haiti and Sudan,” said the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries. at a news conference Friday.

Voting on the package will likely create unusual alliances in the House of Representatives. While aid to Ukraine is likely to win bipartisan majorities, a significant number of progressive Democrats are expected to vote against the bill supporting Israel as they demand an end to the bombing of Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians.

At the same time, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has played a prominent role in the fight, taking his stand from afar through social media statements and direct phone calls to lawmakers, while tilting the Republican Party toward a more isolationist stance with his ‘America First’. brand of politics. Ukraine’s defense once enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress, but as the war enters its third year, a large segment of Republicans oppose further aid.

At one point in the months-long struggle to get support for Ukraine through Congress, Trump’s opposition essentially doomed the Senate’s bipartisan proposal on border security. This week, Trump also published a social media post questioning why European countries did not give more money to Ukraine, although he spared Johnson from criticism and said Ukraine’s survival was important.

Still, the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus has derided the legislation as the “America Last” foreign wars package and urged lawmakers to defy Republican leadership and oppose it because the bills do not include border security measures.

Johnson’s grip on the gavel has also weakened in recent days, as three Republicans, led by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, backed a “motion to evict” that could lead to a vote on the speaker’s removal. He is expected to join soon, said Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who is urging Johnson to voluntarily step aside.

The speaker’s office has worked frantically to build support for the bill, but also for Johnson. It arranged a series of press visits ahead of final votes on the package, first with Jewish leaders and then with Christian groups, to express support for the speaker and the legislation he is putting forward.

Ari Fleischer, former White House press secretary under President George W. Bush, said it was time the United States “did something to support Israel, fight Vladimir Putin and stand up to China.”

“Coming together like this is a refreshing reminder of the past, when foreign policy had bipartisan support,” he said.

The package includes several Republican priorities that Democrats endorse, or at least are willing to accept. These include proposals that would allow the US to seize frozen assets from Russia’s central bank to rebuild Ukraine; impose sanctions on Iran, Russia, China and criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl; and legislation requiring the China-based owner of the popular video app TikTok to sell its stake within a year or face a ban in the United States.

Yet the all-out push to get the bills through Congress is a reflection not just of politics but of reality in Ukraine. Top lawmakers on national security committees, privy to classified briefings, have grown deeply concerned about the situation in recent weeks. Russia has increasingly used satellite-guided hover bombs – which allow planes to drop them from a safe distance – to target Ukrainian forces facing troop and ammunition shortages.

“I really believe in the information and the briefings that we have been given,” Johnson said, adding: “I think Vladimir Putin would continue to march across Europe if he were allowed to.”

A former ambassador to Ukraine under President George W. Bush, John Herbst, said the months-long delay in approving more U.S. aid undoubtedly hurt Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.

But it’s not too late, Herbst added. “The fact that it is coming now means that a disaster has been averted.”