Washington
\nThe House voted resoundingly on Saturday to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line to advance the long-stalled aid package by marshaling support from mainstream Republicans and Democrats.
\nIn four back-to-back votes, overwhelming bipartisan coalitions of lawmakers approved fresh rounds of funding for the three U.S. allies, as well as another bill meant to sweeten the deal for conservatives that could result in a nationwide ban of TikTok.
\nThe scene on the House floor reflected both the broad support in Congress for continuing to help the Ukrainian military beat back Russia, and the extraordinary political risk taken by Mr. Johnson to defy the anti-interventionist wing of his party who had sought to thwart the measure. Minutes before the vote on assistance for Kyiv, Democrats began to wave small Ukrainian flags on the House floor, as hard-right Republicans jeered.
\nThe legislation includes $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region. It would direct the president to seek repayment from the Ukrainian government of $10 billion in economic assistance, a concept supported by former President Donald J. Trump, who had pushed for any aid to Kyiv to be in the form of a loan. But it also would allow the president to forgive those loans starting in 2026.
\nIt also contained a measure to help pave the way to selling off frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund the Ukrainian war effort, and a new round of sanctions on Iran. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation as early as Tuesday and send it to President Biden\u2019s desk, capping its tortured journey through Congress.
\n\u201cOur adversaries are working together to undermine our Western values and demean our democracy,\u201d Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday as the House debated the measure. \u201cWe cannot be afraid at this moment. We have to do what\u2019s right. Evil is on the march. History is calling and now is the time to act.\u201d
\n\u201cHistory will judge us by our actions here today,\u201d he continued. \u201cAs we deliberate on this vote, you have to ask yourself this question: \u2018Am I Chamberlain or Churchill?\u2019\u201d
\nThe vote was 311 to 112 in favor of the aid to Ukraine, with a majority of Republicans \u2014 112 \u2014 voting against it and one, Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, voting \u201cpresent.\u201d The House approved assistance to Israel 366 to 58; and to Taiwan 385 to 34, with Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, voting \u201cpresent.\u201d The bill to impose sanctions on Iran and require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States passed 360 to 58.
\n\u201cToday, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage,\u201d Mr. Biden said. \u201cAt this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history\u2019s call, passing urgently needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure.\u201d
\nMinutes after the vote, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine thanked lawmakers, singling out Mr. Johnson by name \u201cfor the decision that keeps history on the right track.\u201d
\n\u201cDemocracy and freedom will always have global significance and will never fail as long as America helps to protect it,\u201d he wrote on social media. \u201cThe vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger.\u201d
\nOutside the Capitol, a jubilant crowd waved Ukrainian flags and chanted, \u201cThank you U.S.A.\u201d as exiting lawmakers gave them a thumbs-up and waved smaller flags of their own.
\nFor months, it had been uncertain whether Congress would approve new funding for Ukraine, even as momentum shifted in Moscow\u2019s favor. That prompted a wave of anxiety in Kyiv and in Europe that the United States, the single biggest provider of military aid to Ukraine, would turn its back on the young democracy.
\nAnd it raised questions about whether the political turmoil that has roiled the United States had effectively destroyed what has long been a strong bipartisan consensus in favor of projecting American values around the world. The last time the Congress approved a major tranche of funding to Ukraine was in 2022, before Republicans took control of the House.
\nWith an \u201cAmerica First\u201d sentiment gripping the party\u2019s voter base, led by Mr. Trump, Republicans dug in last year against another aid package for Kyiv, saying the matter should not even be considered unless Mr. Biden agreed to stringent anti-immigration measures. When Senate Democrats agreed earlier this year to legislation that paired the aid with stiffer border enforcement provisions, Mr. Trump denounced it and Republicans rejected it out of hand.
\nBut after the Senate passed its own $95 billion emergency aid legislation for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan without any immigration measures, Mr. Johnson began \u2014 first privately, then loudly \u2014 telling allies that he would ensure the U.S. would send aid to Kyiv.
\nIn the end, even in the face of an ouster threat from ultraconservative members, he circumvented the hard-line contingent of lawmakers that once was his political home and relied on Democrats to push the measure through. It was a remarkable turnabout for a right-wing lawmaker who voted repeatedly against aid to Ukraine as a rank-and-file member, and as recently as a couple of months ago declared he would never allow the matter to come to a vote until his party\u2019s border demands were met.
\nIn the days leading up to the vote, Mr. Johnson began forcefully making the case that it was Congress\u2019s role to help Ukraine fend off the advances of an authoritarian. Warning that Russian forces could march through the Baltics and Poland if Ukraine falls, Mr. Johnson said he had made the decision to advance aid to Kyiv because he \u201cwould rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington The House voted resoundingly on Saturday to approve $95 billion in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line to advance the long-stalled aid package by marshaling support from mainstream Republicans and Democrats. In four back-to-back votes, overwhelming bipartisan coalitions of lawmakers approved fresh rounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-401753","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n