The United States assumes its role as the leading world power. After months of blocking the approval of additional aid to Ukraine to defend itself from Russia, the House of Representatives approved this Saturday a package of 95 billion dollars (about 89 billion euros) with aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in which The majority, 60.84 billion dollars (about 57 billion euros), will go to economically and militarily strengthening Kiev. Some Democratic congressmen have even waved small Ukrainian flags in the chamber, provoking rejection from Republicans. “History is watching us.” It has been the message most repeated by the congressmen in favor of the package, who have warned of the risk of leaving the kyiv Government at the mercy of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
It is taken for granted that the Senate will approve the funds in the coming days and that the president, Joe Biden, will immediately sign a law that he has been demanding for more than six months and whose approval he celebrated this Saturday as “a clear message about the power of American leadership on the world stage” in response to “the call of history.” Biden has thanked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, who has faced the hardline of his party to push the package forward.
The new aid will come to Ukraine at a decisive moment, when the shortage of ammunition is making it give up positions against Russia. The Pentagon has the most urgent weapons ready to deliver them without delay as soon as the law comes into force.
Congressmen have voted separately on aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and a fourth law with varied provisions, including the ban of the social network TikTok in the United States within a year if its owners Chinese do not sell the company. The four bills have been packaged into one, which will now be the one the Senate must vote on.
“This package will provide critical support to Israel and Ukraine; will provide desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and other places affected by conflict and natural disasters around the world; and will reinforce security and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Biden said in a statement distributed by the White House minutes after the vote. “It comes at a time of great urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks by Iran and Ukraine and continued bombing by Russia,” he added.
Republican confrontation
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To carry out the package, the president of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, has had to confront the most isolationist and radical wing of his party and rely on the Democrats. Aid to Ukraine has been approved with 311 votes in favor, 101 against and one blank. But while all the Democratic votes have been in favor, among the Republicans there have been 101 in favor, 112 against and one blank. It is a repeat of what happened with the budget laws last month and with several budget extensions that Johnson also pushed through thanks to Democratic votes. In doing so, Johnson, who in his day also opposed aid to Ukraine, has jeopardized his own position.
The staunch Trumpist Marjorie Taylor Greene (known as MTG) announced a month ago a motion of no confidence against Johnson following the approval of the Administration's financing laws and pointed out aid to Ukraine as the new red line to activate it. Several radical Republicans opposed to the approval of more funds for Kiev have declared themselves in recent days in favor of removing the
speaker,
among them Thomas Massie and Paul Gosar. However, the vast majority of Republicans, after the spectacle of chaos and power vacuum they gave after dismissing the previous
speaker,
Kevin McCarthy, seem to think twice before going back to their old tricks.
MTG was furious as she left the Capitol and frustrated at not having more support among her colleagues to remove Johnson. “We have congressmen waving the Ukrainian flag on the House floor while we do nothing to secure our border. I think everyone in this country should be furious. “They are not serving their country,” she said.
“We have a responsibility, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to defend democracy wherever it is in danger,” said the Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, during the debate. “This is a moment to pick and choose democracy or autocracy, we can choose freedom or tyranny. We can choose truth or propaganda. We can choose Ukraine or Russia, we can choose Zelensky or Putin. “We can choose a democratic ally or a declared enemy,” he added.
Johnson has preferred to process the four bills separately because he believed that diluted opposition to different aspects of the package. Democrats who oppose giving more support to Israel have been able to vote against it and Republicans who want to cut off the tap to Ukraine, too, but without ruining the proposal as a whole. The norm includes $60.84 billion for Ukraine, $26.38 billion for Israel and for humanitarian aid to civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza, and $8.12 billion for the Indo-Pacific region, destined primarily to Taiwan.
Some Republicans wanted aid to Ukraine to be packaged as a loan and a compromise solution has been reached. Of the total of almost 61,000 million, the 10,000 million of economic assistance must be returned, but a clause is also included by which the president can forgive these loans starting in 2026. That would allow Trump, contrary to non-refundable aid, demand the return if he wins the elections and Biden will exonerate Kiev if he is re-elected.
Within the package of 60.84 billion dollars destined for Ukraine, the main items are 23.2 billion dollars to replace US defense supplies loaned to Ukraine (mainly ammunition), 13.8 billion for the acquisition of advanced weapons systems, defense products and services and 11.3 billion for current US military operations in the region.
The United States has already allocated $113 billion in assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, according to a February update from the Institute for the Study of War. Of these, 75 billion have been direct military, economic and humanitarian aid.
Help Israel
Israel's package prioritizes defensive capabilities, providing some $5.2 billion to replenish the Steel Dome, David's Sling and Iron Beam defense systems. Another 3.5 billion are allocated to the acquisition of advanced weapons systems through the Foreign Military Financing Program; 1,000 million are to improve the production and development of artillery and ammunition and 4,400 million are to replenish defense supplies and services. In addition, 2.4 billion are allocated to current US military operations in the region. There is another $9 billion for humanitarian aid, including for Gaza civilians, but vetoing funding for UNRWA, the main UN agency providing aid to Palestinians in Gaza. The Israeli package was approved with 366 votes in favor and 58 against, 37 of them Democrats.
The fourth law, on US national security measures, includes a provision that would force ByteDance to sell the social network TikTok if it does not want it to be banned in the United States. It is a rule similar to the one that the House of Representatives approved on March 13, with the difference that it is likely to be approved immediately by the Senate, as it is part of the package. It includes an option to extend the sale period from six to nine months and if steps are being taken towards the sale, the president can extend the period for another three months.
This fourth law also contemplates using seized Russian assets to compensate for US aid to Ukraine, although it is not clear to what extent this measure can be applied. The rule also imposes sanctions on Iranian and Russian officials and further limits the export of American technology used to make Iranian drones. It also imposes sanctions on criminal organizations that traffic fentanyl.
No funds for the border
Several Republicans initially demanded, as a condition of approving additional aid to Ukraine, that more funds be allocated to strengthen the border against illegal immigration. Democrats picked up the gauntlet and senators from both parties reached an agreement in the Senate to allocate $20 billion to provide more resources for border patrols, immigration services, asylum agents and judges in charge of immigration matters .
Former President Donald Trump, however, torpedoed that agreement out of pure electoral calculation. He preferred to add gasoline to the fire of illegal immigration than reach an agreement to put it out. If when the measures were applied they had results, he would not be able to ride on the back of that problem, which he has made the axis of his electoral campaign. Even if it did not bear much fruit, the agreement would have allowed Biden to argue that he was taking consensual measures between both parties. The paradox is that, in the end, aid to Ukraine is approved without border measures.
“Sending $100 billion abroad without reinforcing our own borders shows that we put the United States last,” Massie told reporters this Saturday at the Capitol. In contrast to the slogan “America first,” which summarized Trump's foreign policy, Republicans have dubbed this law “America last.”
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