Democrats stepped in to support bringing the aid package to the floor, in a remarkable breach of custom on a key vote that paved the way for its passage.
The House took a critical step on Friday toward approving a long-stalled package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and other American allies, as Democrats supplied the crucial votes to push the legislation past Republican opposition so that it could be considered on the floor.
But it came only after Speaker Mike Johnson, who put his own job on the line to push through the plan over his party’s objections, was forced to turn to Democrats in a significant breach of custom in the House, further imperiling his position even as he paved the way for the legislation to be voted on and approved.
Those include multiple spending measures to keep the government funded and the annual defense bill, after a revolt from the far right over the exclusion of restrictions they had sought to abortion access, transgender care, and racial diversity and inclusion policies at the Pentagon.
Representative Michael Burgess, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the rules panel, said he wanted the Biden administration to provide more information about how previous foreign aid funding was used and what its long term goals were for ending the conflict in Ukraine.
“I’m concerned that the speaker’s cut a deal with the Democrats to fund foreign wars rather than secure our border,” said Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation who has threatened to vote to oust Mr. Johnson because of it.
The far-right lawmakers who tried to block the rule in committee — Mr. Massie, Mr. Roy and Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina — opposed it because it would not allow a vote on severe border security provisions they have said should be prioritized over aiding Ukraine.
The original article contains 1,014 words, the summary contains 286 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The House took a critical step on Friday toward approving a long-stalled package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and other American allies, as Democrats supplied the crucial votes to push the legislation past Republican opposition so that it could be considered on the floor.
But it came only after Speaker Mike Johnson, who put his own job on the line to push through the plan over his party’s objections, was forced to turn to Democrats in a significant breach of custom in the House, further imperiling his position even as he paved the way for the legislation to be voted on and approved.
Those include multiple spending measures to keep the government funded and the annual defense bill, after a revolt from the far right over the exclusion of restrictions they had sought to abortion access, transgender care, and racial diversity and inclusion policies at the Pentagon.
Representative Michael Burgess, Republican of Texas and the chairman of the rules panel, said he wanted the Biden administration to provide more information about how previous foreign aid funding was used and what its long term goals were for ending the conflict in Ukraine.
“I’m concerned that the speaker’s cut a deal with the Democrats to fund foreign wars rather than secure our border,” said Representative Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation who has threatened to vote to oust Mr. Johnson because of it.
The far-right lawmakers who tried to block the rule in committee — Mr. Massie, Mr. Roy and Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina — opposed it because it would not allow a vote on severe border security provisions they have said should be prioritized over aiding Ukraine.
The original article contains 1,014 words, the summary contains 286 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!