The House of Representatives passed four bills to provide foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. After weeks of negotiations, internal discussions and even threats to try to oust Mike Johnson as speaker of the House, the Republican managed to pass legislation that will now be voted on in the Senate.
Legislators approved approximately $95 billion of aid, which is divided as follows: $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and $8 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific (Taiwan). The legislations also provide humanitarian aid to civilian victims in the Gaza Strip and other regions of the world devastated by the conflict in the Middle East.
311–112: House approves bill providing $60.8 billion in aid for Ukraine.
The bill will be packaged with Israel and Indo-Pacific funding before it's sent to the Senate. pic.twitter.com/7L9bU0shg2
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 20, 2024
The aid package for Ukraine passed 311-112, with all Democrats in favor and Republicans divided almost evenly. The Israeli aid package passed 366-58. Lastly, aid to Taiwan was the least controversial, passing with 385-44.
Johnson was in the middle of a tug-of-war with the most conservative Republicans in the caucus. He ended up sending and passing all four foreign aid bills. The Republican from Louisiana rejected the foreign aid package passed by the Senate in February. Since then, he has been negotiating to pass a new set of legislation in the House of Representatives.
366–58: House passes $26.4 billion in aid for Israel.
The bill will be combined with Ukraine and Indo-Pacific aid before being sent to the Senate. pic.twitter.com/rrSAqV2IBl
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 20, 2024
To appease this group, the speaker of the House agreed to put border security legislation to a vote, which failed 215-99. The bill would have limited asylum, required funding for the construction of the border wall and strengthened security against illegal immigration.
“My philosophy is to do the right thing and let the chips fall where they may. If I operated out of fear of an eviction motion, I would never be able to do my job. I could make a selfish decision and do something different, but I'm doing what I think is right," Johnson said before the vote.
“It comes at a moment of grave urgency”
President Joe Biden was pleased that thr House passed the bills and urged the Senate to pass them as quickly as possible.
“It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia. I want to thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Jeffries, and the bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in the House who voted to put our national security first,” he said in a statement released by the White House.
“I urge the Senate to quickly send this package to my desk so that I can sign it into law and we can quickly send weapons and equipment to Ukraine to meet their urgent battlefield needs,” he added.
"Thank you friends, thank you America!"
It didn't take long for Benjamin Netanyahu to speak out about the aid package that Israel will receive, thanking Congress for its commitment to the defense of the West.
"The US Congress just overwhelmingly passed a much appreciated aid bill that demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization. Thank you friends, thank you America!" he wrote on his X account.
The US Congress just overwhelmingly passed a much appreciated aid bill that demonstrates strong bipartisan support for Israel and defends Western civilization. Thank you friends, thank you America!
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 20, 2024
