After months of blockade and failed negotiations, the United States House of Representatives finally approved this Saturday four legislative proposals, valued at $95 billion, for assistance to the two great allies in war, Ukraine and Israel, as well as Taiwan. and other Indo-Pacific countries, and a fourth that includes a series of “national security” measures, such as banning TikTok in case it remains Chinese property or authorizing Joe Biden to impose sanctions on Iran. To become laws, the four initiatives must now pass through the Senate, where they are expected to be approved by the Democratic majority, and then must be signed by Biden, who has also shown himself willing to do so.
The agreement between moderate Republicans and Democrats, prompted in part by the growing tension in the Middle East, has made it possible to advance an aid package similar to that requested by the White House six months ago, after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 . “The measures we took today will be remembered in the future as necessary for our national security. Vladimir Putin is watching, Xi Jinping is watching, and the leaders of Iran and other enemies of the United States are watching,” said the moderate Republican. Tom Cole, in defense of foreign assistance in a parliamentary session.
The aid package, brought to a vote by the president of the Lower House, Republican Mike Johnson, contemplates 60.8 billion dollars for Ukraine, 26.4 billion for Israel and 8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific countries, mainly Taiwan. Unlike a similar package approved two months ago in the Senate, this time the aid was approved in four different votes.
While aid to Ukraine has received the expected votes against from the ultra-conservative sector of the Republicans and unanimous approval from the Democrats (311 votes in favor and 112 against), aid to Israel has been opposed by progressive Democrats (366 to 58), who have been asking for months that aid be made conditional on the cessation of bombings on the civilian population. Among them, Congressman Mark Pocan, who has highlighted Washington’s inability to influence Israel’s recent attacks in Rafah: “If (Netanyahu) doesn’t listen to us on matters of national security, what’s the point of trusting him with more weapons? We’ve already had enough.”
Among the group of Republicans who have opposed assistance to Ukraine is one of Donald Trump’s greatest allies in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has assured during the session that foreign aid distracts from the domestic problems of the Americans. According to her, she represents the “America last” model, in contrast to the Trumpist motto “America first.”
Johnson’s change of position, who until now had opposed putting aid to Ukraine to a vote, has not been liked by the ultra-conservative Republican group, grouped in the Freedom Caucus, which this week has threatened to initiate a motion of censure against the speaker. If this congressional group forms a majority with enough Democrats, it will be the second time this legislature that the president of the Lower House is expelled, after the dismissal of the previous one, Kevin McCarthy, last October. And it will be one more example of the strong division within the Republican Party, which has made this Congress the most ungovernable in decades.
The assistance of 60.8 billion for Ukraine will be holy water for a country in a critical situation after two years of Russian invasion and with the conflict at a standstill. The end of American aid has meant that in recent months its weapons and ammunition have been at a minimum, affecting the morale of the army while the Russians have been progressively gaining territory.
In the case of Israel, the country already receives annual aid approved more than a decade ago in the US Congress, amounting to 3.8 billion dollars, in addition to the shipment of thousands of bombs, fighter planes and other weapons authorized in recent weeks by the Biden administration. But the $26.4 billion will serve to increase its anti-aircraft defenses after Iran’s massive attack last weekend, and Israel’s response this week.
