The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved $61 billion in new aid for Ukraine, ending a six-month political impasse.
The aid to Ukraine will be combined with aid to Israel and Taiwan for a total foreign aid package of $95 billion.
House Speaker Mike Johnson worked with Democrats and overcame fierce opposition to Ukraine funding within his own party to pass the legislation by a vote of 311 to 112.
“We did our job here, and history will judge us kindly,” Johnson said after the vote.
The Senate is expected to pass the package negotiated with the White House this week. Senate Democrats and Republicans have agreed to take up the package, starting with procedural votes on Tuesday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.
Congratulations from Zelenski
The vote represents a victory for Republican ‘defence hawks’ over the more isolationist wing of the party led by Donald Trump. Nevertheless, more Republicans voted against further aid to Ukraine than for it.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said: “We can’t be afraid of our shadows. We have to be strong. We have to do the right thing,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the vote on social media platform X, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the new aid.
Democrats and some Republicans waved Ukrainian flags during the vote.
Russia to retaliate against seizure of Russian assets
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said: ‘Traditional Republicans, led by House Ways and Means Chairman Mike Johnson, went along with this. We have a responsibility to resist authoritarianism,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, the House also passed an $8 billion aid package for Taiwan. The House also passed a bill that would force Chinese-controlled ByteDance to divest from the popular social media app TikTok or face a US ban.
The bill also authorises the seizure of Russian assets to fund aid to Ukraine. Russia will retaliate against the seizure of its assets, the TASS news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
The Senate is due to start voting on the combined package on Tuesday.
Trump’s ‘loan to Ukraine’ proposal to be implemented
The $61 billion Ukraine bill includes $13 billion to replenish Ukraine’s stockpile of US weapons and $14 billion for US defence systems for Ukraine.
It also provides $7 billion for US military operations in the region.
The bill’s $9.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine comes in the form of a loan that the president can cancel in full after the next election. The idea for the loan was first put forward by Donald Trump.
4 billion in missile aid to Israel
The aid bill for Taiwan includes $2 billion in foreign military financing for Taiwan and $1.9 billion to replenish US arms stocks to cover goods and services provided to Taiwan. It also provides $3.3 billion for undersea infrastructure development.
The aid bill for Israel, passed by 366 votes to 58, includes $4 billion for Israel’s missile defence following last weekend’s drone and rocket attacks by Iran. At the insistence of Democrats, the bill includes $9 billion in global humanitarian aid to be used in Gaza.
Johnson ignored calls from ultra-conservatives within the party to include the ‘US Border Act’.
President Joe Biden welcomed the House vote, thanking Johnson, Jeffries and the lawmakers who ‘voted to put our national security first’.
Conservative Republicans mobilise against Johnson
Three conservative representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Paul Gosar of Arizona, say they are prepared to vote to remove Johnson from office.
“Nothing is being done to secure our border or pay down our debt. Ukraine is not even in NATO,” he said.
Massie also said on Saturday that he hoped the growing Republican opposition would force Johnson to resign. “If it comes to that, there will be a vote to remove Johnson,” he said.
