Account
Ukraine Aid Bill Clears Critical Hurdle in the
House as Democrats Supply the Votes
Democrats stepped in to support bringing the aid
package to the floor, in a remarkable breach of custom on a key vote that paved
the way for its passage.
Annie Karni
By Annie
Karni
Reporting
from the Capitol
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/19/us/politics/congress-vote-ukraine-bill-house.html
April 19,
2024
The House
took a critical step on Friday toward approving a long-stalled package of aid
to Ukraine, Israel and other American allies, as Democrats supplied the crucial
votes to push the legislation past Republican opposition so that it could be
considered on the floor.
The
316-to-94 vote cleared the way for the House to bring up the aid package,
teeing up separate votes on Saturday on each of its parts. But passage of those
measures, each attracting bipartisan support from different coalitions, was not
in doubt, making Friday’s action the key indicator that the legislation is all
but certain to prevail.
Should that
happen in votes set for Saturday afternoon, the Senate was expected to quickly
pass the measure, and President Biden has said he would sign it into law.
On Friday,
the rule for considering the bill — historically a straight party-line vote —
passed with more Democratic than Republican support, but it also won a majority
of G.O.P. votes, making it clear that despite a pocket of deep resistance from
the far right, there is broad bipartisan backing for the $95.3 billion package.
The vote
was an enormous victory in the long effort to fund Ukraine as it battles
Russian aggression, a major priority of President Biden. It was a triumph
against the forces of isolationism within the G.O.P. and a major moment of
consensus in a Congress that for the past year has been mostly defined by its
dysfunction.
But it came
only after Speaker Mike Johnson put his job on the line by turning to Democrats
in a significant breach of custom in the House, further imperiling his position
even as he paved the way for the legislation to be voted on and approved.
On the
House floor, Democrats held back their votes until it was clear there was not
enough Republican support for the measure to pass without their backing, and
then their “yes” votes began pouring in. Ultimately, 165 Democrats voted for
the measure, more than the 151 Republicans who supported it.
“Democrats,
once again, will be the adults in the room, and I’m so glad Republicans finally
realize the gravity of the situation and the urgency with which we must act,”
said Representative Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the
Rules Committee. “But you don’t get an award around here for doing your damn
job.”
Mr.
McGovern blamed a “MAGA minority that doesn’t want to compromise” for the long
delay on approving aid to Ukraine. But he said that Democrats were providing
the votes because “so much more is at stake here than petty partisanship.”
It was the
second time during this Congress that Republicans have had to rely on
Democratic votes in the House to even bring to the floor legislation to address
a critical issue. They did so last year to allow for a vote to suspend the debt
ceiling bill and avoid a catastrophic federal default. On that vote, 29
Republicans voted to oppose the rule. On Friday, 55 Republicans voted against
their own speaker’s agenda.
After the
vote, Representative Paul Gosar of Arizona became the third Republican to say
he would support a bid to oust Mr. Johnson from his post. Representative
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, has already filed a resolution
calling for Mr. Johnson’s removal but has not yet sought a vote on it.
Representative
Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said Mr. Johnson
had not directly asked him for Democratic votes to pass the rule on Friday, but
it was obvious that the measure was going to require substantial backing from his
ranks to pass. He added that a majority of Democrats would also support the
elements of the aid package on Saturday.
Thirty-nine
Democrats voted against the rule on Friday, including many progressives who
oppose unfettered aid to Israel because of how it has conducted its offensive
against Hamas in Gaza, where health officials say more than 33,000 people have
been killed and the population is facing a hunger crisis.
The top
Democrat repeatedly refused to signal whether members of his party would vote
to save Mr. Johnson’s job should Republicans attempt to remove him, something
Mr. Jeffries had previously said was a distinct possibility, saying that
conversation would happen “at the appropriate time.”
“I think
what the American people care about right now is meeting their needs in a very
dangerous world of standing by our democratic allies,” Mr. Jeffries said. “That
will be the ultimate test by which Speaker Johnson, myself and all of our
colleagues in the House on both sides of the aisle will be judged.”
Many
Republicans spoke in favor of the legislation to send aid to Ukraine and
Israel. Representative Michael Burgess, Republican of Texas and the chairman of
the rules panel, said he wanted the Biden administration to provide more
information about how previous foreign aid funding was used and what its
long-term goals were for ending the conflict in Ukraine.
He said
Republicans would continue to push for accountability, but conceded that,
“today we are at an inflection point.”
“Lack of
aid now could cost us much more dearly later,” he said, “and I don’t want that
to become a reality.”
But the
far-right flank of the Republican conference, which has wielded outsized power
in a tiny majority, spoke out to oppose the bill.
“I’m
concerned that the speaker’s cut a deal with the Democrats to fund foreign wars
rather than secure our border,” said Representative Thomas Massie, Republican
of Kentucky, one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation who has
threatened to vote to oust Mr. Johnson because of it.
In order to
steer around opposition from members of his own party, Mr. Johnson broke down
the package into three pieces, adding a fourth bill to sweeten the deal for
conservatives.
The rule
was critical to Mr. Johnson’s strategy, because it allows separate votes on aid
to Israel and aid to Ukraine, which are supported by different coalitions, but
then folds them together without requiring lawmakers to cast an up-or-down vote
on the entire bill.
That made
the rule the only all-or-nothing vote that lawmakers would face on the foreign
aid package, in many ways making it more important than any of the votes on the
individual pieces of the plan. The measure also includes a package of
sweeteners including a bill to require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner
or ban the app in the United States.
“This was
all precooked,” Representative Chip Roy, a hard-right Republican from Texas,
fumed as he rose to oppose the rule. “It’s why President Biden and Chuck
Schumer are praising it.”
Friday’s
vote came after Republicans on the House Rules Committee were also forced late
Thursday night to rely on Democratic votes to move the legislation out of the
committee and onto the House floor. The far-right lawmakers who tried to block
the rule in the committee — Mr. Massie, Mr. Roy and Representative Ralph Norman
of South Carolina — opposed it because it would not allow a vote on severe
border security provisions they have said should be prioritized over aiding
Ukraine.
Under the
rule approved on Friday, Republicans will have two chances to zero out or limit
the funding for Ukraine. Those efforts are expected to fail.
Catie
Edmondson contributed reporting.
Annie Karni
is a congressional correspondent for The Times. She writes features and
profiles, with a recent focus on House Republican leadership. More about Annie Karni
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