Aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, & Israel Approved by House

 

After months of delay, rhetoric, and rancor, the House finally    passed some much-needed financial aid packages for three countries, Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel. House Speaker Mike Johnson, notified that his job was on the line if he brought these bills to a vote, did so anyway. He was, of course, denounced by his right-wing opponents. Each bill was passed as a separate measure without harmful add-ons or poison pills. The Border restructuring/immigration bill was not attached, as it would require a supermajority. Johnson worked with the Democrats and many in his party to make these votes happen. A bill requiring the sale of TikTok was also passed in this manner.

By separating the three funding issues, those members with specific concerns could make their statements and vote accordingly.

According to the reporting in the New York Times:

"The legislation includes $60 billion for Kyiv; $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region. It would direct the president to seek repayment from the Ukrainian government of $10 billion in economic assistance, a concept supported by former President Donald J. Trump, who had pushed for any aid to Kyiv to be in the form of a loan. But it also would allow the president to forgive those loans starting in 2026.

The vote was 311 to 112 in favor of the aid to Ukraine, with a majority of Republicans — 112 — voting against it and one, Representative Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, voting "present." The House approved assistance to Israel 366 to 58; and to Taiwan 385 to 34, with Representative Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, voting "present." The bill to impose sanctions on Iran and require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States passed 360 to 58.

Thirty-seven liberal Democrats opposed the $26 billion aid package for Israel because the legislation placed no conditions on how Israel could use American funding, as the death toll in Gaza has reached more than 33,000 and the threat of famine looms. That showed a notable dent in the longstanding ironclad bipartisan backing for Israel in Congress, but was a relatively small bloc of opposition given that left-wing lawmakers had pressed for a large "no" vote on the bill to send a message to Mr. Biden about the depth of opposition within his political coalition to his backing for Israel's tactics in the war."

Questions without straightforward answers: What do you think about unconditional military aid to Israel given the continued deaths and famine in Gaza? What do you think about the US imposing sanctions on Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank who attacked residents in their towns after a teenage shepherd was murdered? Should Israel have attacked Iranian military members at a consulate in Syria?

Now there are increased tensions between Israel, Iran, and others in the region. I think this attack was provocative and highly irresponsible. With luck and diplomacy, which I hope prevail, Iran and Israel will not keep on waving weapons at each other's countries.

Representative Marjorie Taylor-Greene (recently dubbed 'Moscow Marjorie' by some for her support of President Putin) denounced the support for Ukraine and tried to kill it with many onerous amendments that were voted down by her colleagues. Recent press reports mentioned many Republicans who bought into the propaganda being widely spread by Russian media and others and were echoing these remarks in their public comments. Representative Turner called out these members as belonging to the Russian wing of the party.

As noted by the Guardian:

"Mike Turner, the chairperson of the US House intelligence committee, says some of his fellow Republicans are "absolutely" repeating Russian propaganda on the chamber floor, echoing a similar claim made recently by another right-wing American lawmaker.

"It is absolutely true we see, directly coming from Russia, attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor," the Ohio congressman told CNN's State of the Union show.

Turner maintained that one high-profile instance of such misinformation centered on cases where federal lawmakers have sought to portray Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a war between NATO and Vladimir Putin's forces.

"Of course, it is not," Turner said. "To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle."

Many Republicans, understanding that their candidate wanted an end to the war in Ukraine, voted against the funding, while others did not. Does this mean the former president has lost support as he sits and reportedly sleeps at his New York trial on falsifying business records to cover up payments to a porn star? Mike Johnson met with DJT at his Florida home over the last week and most likely discussed these votes with him. In a public statement after the meeting, the former president indicated he stood with the Speaker.

Does this mean that a corner has been turned, that the House will finally act as the responsible legislative body, it was under the leadership of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi? I do not know, but it turns out that Democrats and Republicans discussed the matters before the votes were called. The Speaker knew he could count on enough support from Democrats to pass these bills, regardless of the threats from members of his party.

According to the Times, Johnson, who long opposed this aid until a recent shift in perspective, supported it after receiving intelligence briefings about the dire situation in Ukraine with continued Russian bombings, troop advances, and the war crimes committed by the Russians. He also noted that should Putin succeed in Ukraine, all of Europe could be in danger because he would not stop at its borders.

ABC News reported on this:
Speaker Mike Johnson earned praise from both a top Republican and a progressive Democrat on Sunday for allowing votes on a $95 billion foreign aid package, suggesting he'll be able to hold onto his job if conservative hard-liners make good on their threat to force a vote to remove him as the leader of the House.

"I am so proud of the speaker, Mike Johnson. He went through a transformation," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, said on ABC News' "This Week." "At the end of the day, a profile in courage is putting the nation above yourself -- and that's what he did. He said, 'At the end of the day, I'm going to be on the right side of history, irrespective of my job,' and I think that was what I admired so much."

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, agreed.

"I disagree with Speaker Johnson on many issues, and I've been very critical of him," Khanna told "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl in a separate interview. "But he did the right thing here and he deserves to keep his job 'til the end of his term."

These bills will now go to the Senate, which long ago approved an aid package, and then on to President Biden for his signature.

The White House issued this statement, which says in part:

Today, members of both parties in the House voted to advance our national security interests and send a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage. At this critical inflection point, they came together to answer history's call, passing urgently needed national security legislation that I have fought for months to secure.

Tomorrow is Earth Day–Celebrate!

And as noted by Heather Cox Richardson today: https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/#

"In a statement, Biden noted that no one can any longer deny the impacts and staggering costs of climate change as the nation confronts historic floods, droughts, and hurricanes.  Biden noted that he brought the US back into the Paris Climate Accord Trump pulled out of, is on track to conserve more lands and waters than any president before him, and has worked with the international community to slash methane emissions and restore lost forests."

Til next week-Peace!