The House on Saturday passed a set of foreign aid bills that would send $61 billion to Ukraine, $26 billion to Israel, and $8 billion to the Indo-Pacific region.
In total, the foreign assistance package totals $95 billion - which only passed after Speaker Mike Johnson cut a deal with Democrats in order to force it through by a vote of 311 to 112.
The Senate is expected to pass the package, which was negotiated in conjunction with the White House, marking a victory against conservative lawmakers who insisted on protecting the US border before sending money abroad to protect those of other countries.
“We cannot be afraid of our shadows. We must be strong. We have to do what’s right,” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said.
Democrats and some Republicans waved Ukrainian flags during the vote, a rare moment of bipartisanship in a bitterly and narrowly divided House.
“Traditional House Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson have risen to the occasion,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said. “We have a responsibility to push back against authoritarianism.” -Bloomberg
Earlier in the day, the House passed an $8 billion aid package aimed at countering Chinese aggression towards Taiwan, as well as a bill that would force Chinese-controlled ByteDance Ltd to divest from TikTok or face a US ban. The bill also allows for the confiscation of Russian dollar assets in order to help fund more assistance to Ukraine.
Speaker Johnson made it essentially impossible to vote for any of the bills before the House today without assisting in the effort to send $60 billion to Ukraine and up to $9 billion to Hamas.
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 20, 2024
He also made it impossible to condition any of those things on U.S. border security.
Breaking down the Ukraine aid - of the $61 billion, $13 billion will replenish US stockpiles of weapons, and $14 billion will go towards US defense systems for Ukraine. $7 billion will go toward US military operations in the region. We assume the remainder will go directly to Ukrainian oligarchs.
The Israel bill, which passed by a vote of 366 to 58, includes $4 billion for missile defense.
Notably absent was so much as a dime for the US border...
"Nothing is done to secure our border or reduce our debt," said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), whose outrage was shared with Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona, who say they're ready to boot Johnson from his Speakership.
"Ukraine is not even a member of NATO," Greene continued.
Who would have known!
