US set to vote on aid to Ukraine and Israel

Washington — The US House of Representatives will have its long-awaited vote on aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific as soon as Saturday, Republican speaker Mike Johnson says, paving the way for its possible passage despite fierce objections from the right wing of his conference.

The House Appropriations Committee unveiled legislation providing more than $95bn in security assistance, including $60.84bn to address the conflict in Ukraine, of which $23.2bn would be used to replenish US weapons, stocks and facilities.

The Israel bill totals $26.38bn, some of which will cover the cost of US military operations responding to recent attacks. And $9.1bn of the total is designated for humanitarian needs, something Democrats had demanded, though it bans any funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.

The security aid effort gained urgency following Iran’s weekend attacks on Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli airstrike on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus on April 1.

The Indo-Pacific measure totals $8.12bn.

Johnson said on Wednesday he would give House members 72 hours — until midday Saturday — to review the bill and offer amendments before a vote on final passage.

He also said he would release a separate border security bill, meeting a demand from conservatives.

Democratic President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass the bills quickly.

“I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: we stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed," Biden said in a statement.

The three bills are similar to a $95bn foreign assistance package the Senate passed in February with strong 70% bipartisan support. But Johnson declined to move ahead until this week, amid objections from hard-right legislators, some of whom threatened to try to oust him as speaker.

The Ukraine measure includes a provision that economic assistance to Kyiv — not military — should be repaid, which was a conservative demand. However, the Biden administration could waive that requirement.

Late on Wednesday, House leaders introduced a fourth national security bill as part of the package. It includes several provisions not part of the Senate bill, including provisions to allow the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine and sanctions targeting Hamas and Iran.

The measure also would prevent app story availability or web hosting services in the US for applications controlled by China’s ByteDance, including TikTok, unless the applications sever ties to ByteDance or other entities “subject to the control of a foreign adversary”.

Democratic support for Johnson’s plan will be essential, given the slim Republican majority in the House and opposition from far-right Republicans.

The plan got an important boost from representative Rosa DeLauro, the top House Appropriations Democrat. “We finally have a path forward to provide support for our allies and desperately needed humanitarian aid,” she said.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democrats would discuss the bills and decide. “We want to have that conversation, as a caucus, as a family, as a team,” he told reporters.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said that he would review the legislation before deciding how to respond.

At least two House members had threatened to try to oust Johnson if he went ahead.

Aid to Ukraine is strongly opposed by many of the most conservative legislators — especially those allied with former president Donald Trump, who has been a Ukraine aid sceptic and hopes to win back the White House in November.

Hardline Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene reiterated her threat to try to remove Johnson.

“Joe Biden just announced he supports the House bill Johnson is forcing forward,” Greene said on X. “Johnson is not our speaker, he is theirs. The question is how much longer will our conference tolerate this?”

Johnson said he would not let the threat influence him, saying it was critically important to support Ukraine. “I could make a selfish decision... but I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing,” he told reporters.

There are also objections on the left, amid concern about sending money to Israel as it strikes back against the October 7 attack by Hamas militants and calls for tighter controls on US weapons and taxpayer dollars, given the devastating toll of Israel’s campaign in Gaza on civilians.

Johnson also introduced a separate border security bill. Immigration is a top concern for conservatives ahead of November 5 elections that will decide control of the White House and Congress. Some Republicans have insisted they would not back foreign aid without more funding for security at the frontier with Mexico.

Reuters