USA
Vote on Ukraine aid in Congress: Is a breakthrough coming?
The vote on Ukraine aid could cost House Speaker Mike Johnson his job. photo
© J Scott Applewhite/AP
For a long time there was hardly any movement in parliament on aid to Ukraine. Now there is a crucial vote that could bring Kiev billions in new support from the USA.
New US aid for those attacked by Russia After months of blockade, Ukraine is within reach. This Saturday afternoon (local time), the House of Representatives in Washington wants to vote on a package worth around 61 billion US dollars (57 billion euros) for Kiev. Votes on billions in support for Israel and Taiwan are also planned.
The Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives. A number of members of the parliamentary group vehemently reject new US aid for Ukraine. The vote, in which he is dependent on help from US President Joe Biden’s Democrats, could cost the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, his job.
This will be voted on
A total of four bills will be voted on. The most controversial text concerns billions in aid for Ukraine. Of this, around $23 billion is intended to increase the US military inventory, with the money going indirectly to Ukraine, as the US usually supplies the country attacked by Russia with equipment from its stocks. The remainder is earmarked for further military support and financial assistance. The latter is designed as a loan. The text also states that US President Biden should provide Ukraine with long-range ATACMS missile systems “as soon as practicable”. Kiev has long hoped for the weapon system, whose missiles are fired from the ground at targets on the ground.
Another draft provides a good 26 billion US dollars for Israel. On the one hand, it is intended, for example, to finance Israel’s missile defense and the US’s ongoing military operations in the region. On the other hand, around $9 billion is intended for humanitarian support, including for the people of the Gaza Strip. A third draft provides around $8 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region. Finally, there will also be a vote on a law that provides for a ban on the short video app Tiktok as well as sanctions against Iran and the confiscation of Russian assets. These are all Republican demands.
These are the majority conditions
It is likely that the drafts will be approved in the House of Representatives. They would then have to pass the Senate. The Democrats have a narrow majority there. It can therefore be assumed that both chambers will ultimately approve the texts. The Senate had actually already voted in February for a billion-dollar aid package requested by Biden. This also provided for billions in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. However, there was never a vote in the House of Representatives because an internal party power struggle was raging in the Republican-dominated chamber. Chairman Johnson is under a lot of pressure, especially from the right-wing fringe of his party. Several ultra-conservative MPs who are loyal to former President Donald Trump are opposing aid to Ukraine.
The separation of the aid into individual packages and the conversion of part of the support into a loan are intended to serve as a compromise with which Johnson wants to appease the radicals in his party. This has so far only been partially successful. The 52-year-old will rely on the Democrats’ votes in Saturday’s vote. With the Republicans’ own narrow majority, he is unlikely to get aid to Ukraine through the chamber. This was already evident in a procedural vote on Friday, which made the actual vote possible. This was only successful thanks to the votes of the Democrats. Actually, such procedural votes are contested solely with the votes of the party that has the majority in the chamber.
That could work for Johnson
Johnson is actually not considered an ardent supporter of Ukraine. It is unclear what motivated him to make a vote for such an aid package possible. Most recently, however, he emphasized that it was important to him to be on the right side of history. Information that he received in his role as chairman of the chamber particularly contributed to his rethinking. The Republican only took over the office, which comes third in the United States’ ranking after the president and his vice president, around six months ago. His predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was voted out of office in a historic vote at the beginning of October.
Resistance also formed against Johnson. The hard-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene submitted a first request for his deselection at the end of March, and two other members of the party later joined the party. “I’m concerned that the chairman has made a deal with Democrats to fund foreign wars instead of securing the border,” said one of them, Republican Thomas Massie. It remains to be seen whether Greene will actually push for a vote on Johnson’s removal. If she were to do so, Johnson would probably also have to rely on the support of the Democrats here because of the slim majority in the chamber. He could probably count on them, since they have been pushing for aid to Ukraine for months.
That’s why the USA is so important for Ukraine
The USA is considered Ukraine’s most important ally in the fight against the Russian invasion. Since the war began in February 2022, President Biden’s administration has provided more than $44 billion in military assistance to Kyiv. There are also billions more in non-military financial aid. According to the US government, the funds approved by Congress have been used up – which is why the planned vote on new aid is of great importance.
Recently, even former President Trump changed his tone somewhat with regard to Kiev and made an unusually clear commitment to Ukraine. On the platform he co-founded, Truth Social, he wrote: “We all agree that the survival and strength of Ukraine should be much more important for Europe than for us, but it is also important for us!” As a rule, Trump does not publicly stand behind Ukraine – and instead repeatedly shows admiration for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Johnson visited Trump at his estate in Florida a week ago. It can be assumed that he had his actions approved by the most influential man in the Republican ranks.