The House of Representatives passed a $61 foreign aid package for Ukraine, as well as separate ones for Israel and Taiwan this weekend following months of debate over the role of the United States in foreign policy. The passage was met with support from some Republicans and many Democrats but with more than half of the Republicans in the chamber voting against it.
The bill passed 311-112 and included more than $60 million in funding for Ukraine amid its ongoing war with Russia.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) signaled support for the aid package after months of procedural delays in the House. One of the major factors that appeared to shift momentum toward the bill was the Iranian missile and drone barrage against Israel earlier this month.
The aid bill’s passage received considerable criticism from some Republicans in the House, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). She was one of 112 Republican representatives to vote against the measure.
She wrote that the speaker “betrayed America once again.”
Greene wrote on social media that the speaker had done “nothing to secure America’s Southern border, reauthorizing FISA to spy on the American people without a warrant, fully funding Joe Biden’s DOJ that has indicted President Trump 91 times and giving Biden’s political Gestapo a brand new FBI building bigger than the Pentagon, Speaker Johnson just sent $61 billion to fund the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine.”
“House Republicans and the American people would be stronger without his disloyalty and betrayal of his principles,” she added. Greene said that it was “time” for members of Congress to “go home and hear from their constituents.”
She reiterated her support for replacing Johnson. She previously filed a motion to vacate against Johnson, which has been gaining support among some Republicans in the House.
Mike Johnson betrayed America once again.
After doing nothing to secure America’s Southern border, reauthorizing FISA to spy on the American people without a warrant, fully funding Joe Biden’s DOJ that has indicted President Trump 91 times, and giving Biden’s political gestapo a… pic.twitter.com/8ZnQB5ry5j
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) April 20, 2024
There has also been a shift in attitude from various parts of the Republican Party, including former President Donald Trump. Trump met with Johnson last week and discussed a variety of issues. Following the meeting of the two GOP leaders, Trump stated that the security of Ukraine was important to the United States.
“As everyone agrees, Ukrainian Survival and Strength should be much more important to Europe than to us, but it is also important to us! GET MOVING EUROPE!” he wrote in a social media post last week.
Furthermore, the House also passed a bill that allowed the U.S. government to use seized Russian assets of about $300 billion for the rebuilding of Ukraine whenever the conflict ends.
