U.S. military aid package gains support in Congress

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he strongly supports a proposal from Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to provide aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending crucial bipartisan support to the effort this week to approve $95 billion (U.S.) in funding for the U.S. allies.

Ahead of potential weekend voting, Johnson was facing a choice between losing his job and funding Ukraine. He notified lawmakers Wednesday that he would forge ahead despite growing anger from his right-flank. Shortly after Johnson released the funding proposals, Democrat Biden offered his emphatic support for the package.

“The House must pass the package this week, and the Senate should quickly follow,” the Democratic president said.

After agonizing over how to proceed on the package for days, Johnson notified GOP lawmakers Wednesday that he would push to hold votes on three funding packages for Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Johnson is proposing that economic assistance for Kyiv be structured as forgivable loans, along with greater oversight on military funding, but the decision to support Ukraine at all has angered populist conservatives in the House and given new energy to a threat to remove him from the speaker’s office.

The votes on the package are expected Saturday evening, Johnson said. But he faces a treacherous path to get there.

The speaker needs Democratic support on the procedural manoeuvres to advance his complex plan of holding separate votes on each of the aid package.

By holding separate votes on each aid package and then sewing them back together, Johnson is trying to squeeze the aid through the House’s political divisions on foreign policy.