House Approves Long-Stalled Ukraine Aid

House Speaker Mike Johnson put his political career on the line to push the long-stalled measure past intense Republican opposition.

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the press after the House passed a major aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan and also voted to ban TikTok. Picture: AFP

The House passed a $US95 billion package of bills Saturday that would fund aid and weapons for Ukraine, after House Speaker Mike Johnson put his political career on the line to push the long-stalled measure past intense Republican opposition.

Politicians voted on four separate measures for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and another bill that would force the sale of TikTok by its Chinese-controlled owner.

The first vote, on TikTok and sanctions related to Iran and Russia, passed 360-58, and aid for Taiwan also passed easily. The vote on Ukraine – the most contentious of the four – passed 311 to 112 with one voting present, with all Democrats joined by less than half of Republicans in support. Israel aid then sailed through as well, despite objections from some Democrats over how Israel has handled the war in Gaza.

The measures will be bundled together and sent to the Senate, which will begin consideration of the bill on Tuesday.

“The world is destabilised and it is a tinderbox” that demands American leadership, Johnson said in subdued remarks after the vote, pointing to threats from Russia, China and Iran. “I think we did our work here, and history will judge it well,” he said.

He also chastised Democrats and some Republicans who waved the Ukrainian flags as the voting wrapped up, calling it inappropriate. “We should only wave one flag on the House floor, and I think we know which one that is.” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media he was grateful to House politicians of both parties “and personally Speaker Mike Johnson for the decision that keeps history on the right track.” Outside the Capitol on Saturday, dozens of people waved Ukrainian flags. They cheered politicians who supported the aid as they left the building — and also booed others who opposed it.

About $60 billion of the aid package is aimed at helping Ukraine fight off the Russian invasion while funding the US defence industry. The measure also contains $26 billion for Israel, direct aid as well as money for replenishing US stockpiles and supporting U.S. operations in the region. The proposal allocates about $US8 billion to support Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, as well as humanitarian aid for Gaza. The TikTok provision gives owner ByteDance up to a year to find a non-Chinese buyer.

President Biden thanked House leaders and the “bipartisan coalition of politicians in the House who voted to put our national security first.” He called on the Senate to act quickly and send the bill to his desk.

Critics of more spending and the lack of border provisions weren’t sold. “We should have negotiated a smaller, lethal-only Ukraine bill that was paid for, that had a border security provision to it, and forced the Senate to join us in securing the border,” said Rep. Bob Good (R. Va.).

The House votes came after months of delay, and as Johnson has spoken in stark terms about confronting America’s global adversaries. Johnson has a razor-thin 218-213 majority in the House, leading him to increasingly rely on Democratic votes to pass critical legislation, ranging from keeping the government open to controversial spying powers and now funding overseas allies.

Democrats praised Johnson for bringing the bill up for a vote, but said that he had erred in waiting so long to set aside internal GOP politics and put forward the Ukraine measure.

“He deserves some credit, but he doesn’t deserve an award for courage,” said Rep. Dan Kildee (D., Mich.). “Courage would have occurred two months ago,” he said.

The Senate passed its own foreign-aid bill with bipartisan support earlier this year, and President Biden, Republican defence hawks and many Democrats urged Johnson to take it up. But he put off making his decision, as his right flank insisted that any aid measure include a House Republican proposal cracking down on migration at the U.S.-Mexico border, a nonstarter for congressional Democrats.

Delays in aid from Western allies has left Ukrainian forces trying to hold off a much larger army with dwindling resources. Russia eked out gains in the east of the country while slamming Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure with missiles to sap the country’s air defences. The U.S. has spent more than $US100 billion on the Ukraine war since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Johnson had indicated in recent weeks he was close to a decision, and events prodded him to move. Last weekend, Iran launched a wave of more than 300 drones and missiles toward Israel, putting the package front and centre once again for members of Congress. Republican leaders ditched their planned agenda of partisan bills, with titles such as “Liberty in Laundry Act,” to instead respond to the attack.

Johnson on Monday announced he would move ahead with not only Israel aid, but a comprehensive foreign-aid bill. He effectively embraced the Senate approach but broke it up into four bills, with extra items thrown in, giving politicians a chance to vote for or against different slices of aid and policy. The plan offers one piece of assistance — $9.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine — in the form of a forgivable loan, rather than a grant, to satisfy some critics’ demands.

Still, the plan sparked outrage from a swath of GOP colleagues, and some politicians said Tuesday they thought the approach was dead. But Johnson stuck to his guns and released the formal bill text Wednesday, daring his GOP antagonists to try to remove him. Democrats helped Johnson move the bill through procedural steps on Thursday and Friday, more than making up for Republican defections.

“We believe in peace through strength, we stand up to totalitarian dictators and that’s what the House did today,” said Representative Don Bacon (R., Neb.). “I think some are misguided to think that’s not what we should be doing.” Johnson, who previously had voted against helping Ukraine aid before becoming speaker, said he was motivated by intelligence he had seen on the war. House speakers are second in line for the presidency, behind the vice president, and privy to highly classified briefings. He also warned that if America doesn’t make an investment to stop Russia now, the US may find itself involved in a deeper conflict down the road, while taking a swipe at opponents.

Johnson travelled to Mar-a-Lago earlier this month to meet with former President Donald Trump, who has regularly criticised foreign aid and said Congress should do more to secure the border. Speaking to reporters with Johnson by his side, Trump didn’t criticise the speaker, while insisting that aid to Ukraine should be in the form of a loan.

The success of the Ukraine bill has come at a high cost to Johnson, energising critics led by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R., Ga.). She f iled a motion to vacate last month but hasn’t forced a vote. She has been joined by two colleagues on the measure, Rep. Paul Gosar (R., Ariz.) and Representative Thomas Massie (R., Ky.), while others say they are watching developments closely.

Johnson’s Republican critics expect that pressure on him to resign from the speakership will grow in the coming days and weeks, as the Republican base reacts to a decision to clear the way for money to Ukraine without also finding a path forward for the panoply of border-security measures, like restrictions on asylum claims.

“If we had the vote today in our conference, he would not be speaker today,” Greene said of Johnson after the vote. She also lashed out at colleagues. When politicians are “waving the Ukrainian flag on the United States House of Representatives floor while we’re doing nothing to secure our border, I think every American in this country should be furious,” she said.

Representative Seth Magaziner (D., R.I.) brought yellow and blue flags and passed them out as politicians voted, a violation of House rules, to show support for the Ukrainian people. “We need to show them and show the world that we have their back,” he said. Representative Anna Paulina Luna (R., Fla.) yelled at Democrats to “put those damn flags away,” receiving an admonishment herself.

The rapidly approaching November election may save Johnson. Republicans feel that they have put their House majority at risk with their continued infighting. Even Johnson’s loudest detractors are loath to re-create the three weeks of speakerless mayhem they experienced in September when eight Republicans engineered the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“The strategy all along has been to ask the speaker to resign...We’re looking for Mike’s notice,” Massie said. Johnson said he won’t quit.

Even those dissatisfied by Johnson admit to a crucial problem: It would be hard to replace him.

“There is nobody in our conference today...that could get every single Republican vote to become the speaker of the House. So the thing they need to answer is, ‘Who’s your person?’ And they don’t have a plan,” Representative Austin Scott (R., Ga.) said of those mad at Johnson.

Numerous Republicans even pushed Johnson to slip a rules change into the procedural vote for the security aid bill that would end the potential for mutiny. In the end, Johnson didn’t, saying he didn’t have the majority of Republicans with him.

— Katy Stech Ferek contributed to this article.

The Wall Street Journal