House of Representatives passes $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and Israel, sends it to the Senate

By Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton and Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday passed, with broad bipartisan support, a $95 billion bill aimed at providing security aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, despite strong objections from Republican hard-liners.

The bill now moves to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. American leaders of the Democratic Party President Joe Biden Republican Mitch McConnell, who leads the Senate, urged the embattled Republican House speaker Mike Johnson to put it to a vote.

The Senate is expected to pass the measure next week and send it to Biden to sign into law.

About a dozen Democratic lawmakers waved small Ukrainian flags as it became clear that part of the package was close to passage. Johnson told lawmakers it was a “violation of decorum.”

Johnson chose this week to ignore threats to oust hard-liners from his split majority (218 votes to 213) and move forward with the measure that includes some $60.84 billion for Ukraine, while as this country struggles to fight off a two-year Russian invasion.

The unusual four-bill package also includes funds for Israel, security aid for Taiwan and its allies in the Indo-Pacific and a measure including sanctions, a threat to ban the social media app Chinese TikTok and the potential transfer of seized Russian assets. in Ukraine.

“The world is watching what Congress does,” the White House said in a statement Friday. “Passage of this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment. The Administration urges both houses of Congress to quickly send this additional funding package to the President’s desk.”

Some radical Republicans have expressed strong opposition to increased aid to Ukraine, with some saying the United States cannot afford it given its growing $34 trillion national debt. They repeatedly raised the threat of ousting Johnson, who became president in October after his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted by hard-liners.

“This is not the perfect legislation, this is not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of the House, the Senate and the White House,” Johnson told reporters Friday. “This is the best possible product we can get in these circumstances to fulfill these really important obligations.”

Rep. Bob Good, chairman of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, told reporters Friday that the bills represented a “slide into the abyss of a greater fiscal crisis and the latest U.S. policies that reflect Biden and ( Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck) Schumer and (House Democratic Leader Hakeem) Jeffries, and does not reflect the American people. »

But Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who wields enormous influence within the party, expressed support for Johnson on April 12 and said on social media Thursday that Ukraine’s survival was important to the United States. United.

The bills provide $60.84 billion to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, including $23 billion to replenish U.S. weapons, stockpiles and facilities; $26 billion for Israel, including $9.1 billion for humanitarian needs and $8.12 billion for the Indo-Pacific.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Daniel Wallis)