Speaker Mike Johnson’s $95 billion foreign aid proposal survived a key test Friday morning, with House lawmakers set to consider its four separate elements throughout Saturday.
After conservative foreign aid skeptics defected from Republicans in an attempt to block the plan, Democrats defied party norms and supported it through a procedural hurdle known as a rules vote. It passed with a vote of 316 to 94.
“Democrats have provided the votes needed to bring this bill to the floor,” Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee, who pushed the bill Thursday night, said before Friday’s vote. There is much more at stake here today than petty brinkmanship.
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Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson (Getty Images)
A rules vote will now begin debate on four separate bills, followed by an amendment vote and a vote on the four bills for passage sometime Saturday. It is highly unusual for Democrats and opposition parties to cross the aisle on a rules vote, but it underscores the urgency that lawmakers in both countries feel about sending aid to foreign allies.
It also illustrates the fractured House Republican conference that Johnson is trying to control, with the House Freedom Caucus and its allies wielding enormous influence for much of this term.
Three of the four bills provide funding to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. The fourth bill includes national security priorities such as the House’s recently passed crackdown on TikTok ownership and the REPO Act, which would liquidate seized Russian assets and give the funds to Ukraine. .
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Israeli tanks move near the Gaza Strip border in southern Israel on Thursday, April 11. (AP/Tsafril Abayov)
Mr. Johnson’s push for foreign aid has infuriated members of the right wing of the House Republican conference and put additional pressure on Louisiana Republicans, who have a historically thin majority.
Earlier this week, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) threatened to expel Mr. Johnson if he did not resign after the House vote on the foreign aid plan. Mr. Massey is currently a signatory to Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to rescind the resolution, but the House has two legislative days to oust Mr. Johnson if Mr. Greene deems it a “privilege.” A vote on the possibility will begin.
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Prime Minister Johnson’s push for foreign aid prompted expulsion threats from Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massey (Getty Images)
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“I’m concerned that the Speaker has struck a deal with Democrats to fund foreign wars, not to protect our borders,” Massey said during a debate ahead of the final vote.
Greene’s amendment, which would strip all funding to Ukraine from the foreign aid bill, is scheduled to be voted on Saturday ahead of a vote on final passage.
