Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress managed to avoid a damaging federal government shutdown with a last-minute compromise reached this week that would authorize more military aid to Ukraine and Israel and tighten immigration laws. There is still a stalemate over the issue.
Congress faced a late Friday deadline to reauthorize government spending or some federal departments to suspend most operations.
Leading lawmakers, including Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, said Wednesday that they agree that Congress needs to work in a bipartisan manner to fund the government. The next day, lawmakers passed the bill. Short-term spending measure signed by Joe Biden on Friday.
But similar agreements have proven difficult in terms of financing both Ukraine’s continued tough defense against Russian aggression and Israel’s offensive against Gaza.
Last month, Republicans killed a bipartisan Senate deal that would have combined the latest military aid with measures to limit the number of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers entering the country from Mexico — reportedly on the verge of doing so. Now that Donald Trump has won the same Republican presidential nomination, he may campaign on his hard-line approach to immigration reform.
The Senate then approved a $95 billion bill that would allow aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan without changing border policy, but Johnson refused to allow it to be voted on in the House of Commons. Meanwhile, the government funding spree is far from over. This week’s agreement extends funding deadlines for two bills authorizing spending to March 8 and 22. House and Senate leaders said in a joint statement that lawmakers will vote on 12 separate spending bills funding federal departments by those deadlines.
As the Russian invasion enters its third year, enthusiasm for Kiev’s cause is waning among the American right. Although it still has some high-profile supporters within the Republican Party, including the party’s top leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, it is Democrats who have been the loudest in sounding the alarm about the holdup of aid as Russia moves into the country.
“Every day that House Republicans refuse to vote on a bipartisan national security supplement, the impact on Ukraine becomes more severe,” Biden said Thursday.
And while the Biden administration faces intense criticism from some allies for its support for Israel, a write-in campaign protesting its Middle East policy on Tuesday won 100,000 votes in the Democratic primary in the key battleground state of Michigan. The president insisted that this assistance would be provided. supporting both Israel’s fight against Hamas and the needs of civilians in Gaza.
“This bill will help ensure Israel protects itself from Hamas and other threats, and will provide critical humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people and those affected by conflicts around the world. “The truth is that the aid flowing into Gaza is never enough or fast enough. Innocent lives are at risk,” he said.
The biggest hurdle so far appears to be the elevation of Mr. Johnson, a right-wing lawmaker and ally of Mr. Trump, to the chairmanship in October after Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the post in an unusual internal revolt. On Wednesday, a coalition of European parliamentary leaders, including France, Spain, Finland and Ukraine, sent an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking him to allow a vote on aid to Ukraine.
“Chairman Johnson believes he must confront President Putin and, as he has stated at the White House, is seeking steps to do so effectively, but his immediate priority is to provide funding to the U.S. government. and avoid closure,” the Chairman’s Office responded.
Centrist members of the House, where Republicans control just two seats, reportedly It plans to circulate a discharge petition that, if signed by a majority of MPs, could force Johnson to put aid to Ukraine to a floor vote. Asked about this at a news conference, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was not prepared to support the idea.
“The most effective way to secure aid to our democratic allies, including but not limited to Ukraine, is to vote on and consider the bipartisan bill currently pending in the House of Representatives,” Jeffries said. , added: All legislative options remain on the table. ”
