The House of Representatives passed a series of bills on Saturday aimed at providing aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, along with a measure targeting the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok. The bills, totaling over $60 billion for Ukraine, more than $26 billion for Israel, and over $8 billion for Taiwan and Indo-Pacific security, were wrapped into a single package and sent to the Senate for approval. President Joe Biden expressed his gratitude to Speaker Mike Johnson and Leader Hakeem Jeffries for their bipartisan support in putting national security first.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated that the Senate could vote on the package as soon as Tuesday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz both thanked Speaker Johnson and House leadership for their role in passing the aid bills. However, a spokesperson for TikTok expressed disappointment that the House used the aid package as a cover to push through the measure targeting ByteDance.
The House's approval of the aid package comes after months of political maneuvering, with the Senate passing a $95 billion version of the aid bill in February. Speaker Johnson revisited the foreign aid package following Iran's attempted strike on Israel, which prompted a bipartisan push for support for Israel. Despite potential backlash from hardline House Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Speaker Johnson prioritized the aid package and structured it into separate bills presented to his Republican colleagues.
Although Greene expressed discontent with the aid bills and her motion to oust Speaker Johnson loomed over the vote, Majority Leader Steve Scalise did not expect Greene to force a vote on the motion on Saturday. The passage of the aid package marks a critical step in providing assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as addressing national security concerns.