After a months-long battle, Democrats and Republicans are now joining forces when it comes to renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Ukraine portion, an aid package worth $61 billion, clearly demonstrating U.S. support. The text on military and economic aid to Kiev must now go to the Senate, where a first vote could possibly take place on Tuesday. However, that was not obvious, because for months Republicans and Democrats fought over whether or not to grant more support for the country at war.
Israel
The turn, from the Republicans, only came recently. And the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has everything to do with it. The Trump adept has been voting against support for Ukraine for a long time. When he took the gavel in October, he blocked an aid package of more than $60.8 billion. Since February, he has refused to allow the bill to be voted on in the House, even though it had previously been approved in the Senate by Republicans and Democrats. But on Wednesday he reversed course by presenting a solution himself.
After Iran’s attack on Israel, the Speaker of the House had no choice but to make a decision on the military aid packages.
After all, the original bill not only mentioned weapons for Ukraine, but also for Israel and Taiwan. These support packages were also approved. For example, Israel will receive an aid package worth $26 billion that should support them in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza citizens.
When it became clear that the proposal would pass, several politicians cheered and waved blue and yellow flags, the colors of Ukraine.
TikTok
The fourth and final proposal concerns national, American security and how to strengthen it. The text requires ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, to withdraw from the American branch of the social media network, otherwise the platform could be banned in the United States. The authors of the proposal believe that Beijing uses the platform for propaganda and could misuse US usage data. TikTok has 170 million users in the US.
When it became clear that the proposal – and specifically the aid package for Ukraine – would pass, both Republicans and Democrats cheered and waved blue and yellow flags, the colors of Ukraine. For the House, a rare moment of unity between the two political movements. “The traditional Republicans of the House of Representatives led by Speaker Mike Johnson were on the date,” said Hakeem Jeffries, leader of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives. “We have a responsibility to push back authoritarianism.”
Volodymyr Zelensky — © IMAGO/newspix
Saving lives
Who is also delighted is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He was already pleased with the approval of the lower house. US aid “will save thousands and thousands of lives” and “prevent the war from spreading,” said Zelensky, who also said he was grateful to US representatives.
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NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also expressed satisfaction. “Ukraine is using the weapons supplied by NATO allies to destroy Russia’s combat capabilities. That strengthens the security of all of us, here in Europe and North America,” he wrote on X.
The Kremlin said the US decision to provide aid to Ukraine was “expected and predictable.” “It will further enrich the US and ruin Ukraine even more because more Ukrainians will die,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The United States is Ukraine’s most important ally in its fight against Russia. The country has promised or provided more than $44 billion in military aid since the war began in February 2022.