House passes Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan aid, potential TikTok ban

On
Saturday,
the
House
passed
a
series
of
bills
to
provide
aid
to
Ukraine,
Israel,
and
Taiwan,
along
with
a
package
that
included
forcing
the
Chinese
company
ByteDance
to
sell
TikTok.

After
a
morning
of
debate
on
the

House
floor,
the
four
bills
will
be
wrapped
into
a
single
package
and
sent
to
the
Senate
for
approval.
After
that,
it
will
be
sent
to
President
Joe
Biden
to
be
signed
into
law.

“I
understand
that
it
is
not
a
perfect
piece
of
legislation,”
House
Speaker
Mike
Johnson,
R-La.,
said
Saturday
following
the
vote.
“We
would
rather
send
bullets
to
the
conflict
overseas
than
our
own
boys,
our
troops.
And
I
think
this
is
an
important
moment
and
important
opportunity
to
make
that
decision.”

Johnson’s
decision
to
hold
the
vote
came
at
a
political
risk,
as
hardline
members
of
his
party
threatened
to
oust
him.
In
March,
Rep.
Marjorie
Taylor
Greene,
R-Ga.,
filed
a
motion
to
vacate
Johnson
from
his
post,
but
she
has
yet
to
force
a
vote
on
the
measure.

“As
I’ve
said
many
times,
I
don’t
walk
around
this
building
being
worried
about
a
motion
to
vacate,”
Johnson
said
Saturday.
“I
have
to
do
my
job.”

Following
the
passage
of
the
long-stalled
foreign
aid,
Johnson
received
a
flurry
of
public
statements
thanking
him.

 “I
want
to
thank
Speaker
Johnson,
Leader
Jeffries,
and
the
bipartisan
coalition
of
lawmakers
in
the
House
who
voted
to
put
our
national
security
first,”
Biden
said
in
a
statement.
“I
urge
the
Senate
to
quickly
send
this
package
to
my
desk
so
that
I
can
sign
it
into
law.”

Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
signaled
Saturday
that
the
Senate
could
vote
on
the
package
on
Tuesday.

“I
am
grateful
to
the
United
States
House
of
Representatives,
both
parties
and
personally
Speaker
Mike
Johnson
for
the
decision
that
keeps
history
on
the
right
track,”
Ukrainian
President

Volodymyr
Zelenskyy
said
in
a
post
on
X
after
the
vote.

Israeli
Foreign
Affairs
Minister
Israel
Katz
also
thanked
Johnson
and
House
Minority
Leader
Hakeem
Jeffries,
D-N.Y.,
on
Saturday
for
helping
to
pass
the
aid.

The
bills
earmark
over
$60
billion
for
Ukraine
aid,
more
than
$26
billion
for
Israel
and
over
$8
billion
for
Taiwan
and
Indo-Pacific
security.
A
fourth
bill
includes
a
measure
to
force
China’s
ByteDance
to
sell
social
media
platform
TikTok
within
nine
months
—
though
the
president
can
offer
a
90-day
extension
—
or
face
a
national
ban.

“It
is
unfortunate
that
the
House
of
Representatives
is
using
the
cover
of
important
foreign
and
humanitarian
assistance
to
once
again
jam
through
a
ban
bill,”
a
TikTok
spokesperson
said
in
a
statement
on
Saturday.

The
House’s
approval
is
a
critical
next
step
for
foreign
aid,
which
has
been
in
limbo
since
President
Biden
first
proposed
it
in
October.
After
the
long-awaited
vote
on
Ukraine
passed,
a
crowd
of
House
Democrats
waving
Ukrainian
flags
broke
out
into
a
chorus
of
cheers.

In
February,
the
Senate
passed
a
$95
billion
version
of
the
aid
to
fund
Ukraine,
Israel
and
Taiwan.
Still,
the
House
effectively
shelved
that
bill
primarily
due
to
political
threats
from
hardline
House
Republicans
like
Rep.
Greene.

Despite
that
looming
political
backlash,
Speaker
Johnson
was
persuaded
to
revisit
the
foreign
aid
package
after
Iran’s
attempted
strike
on
Israel
last
weekend.
That
escalatory
move
triggered
a
renewed
bipartisan
push
for
the
House
to
move
to
support
Israel.

In
response,
Johnson
put
the
foreign
aid
package
at
the
top
of
the
House’s
agenda.
He
devised
a
plan
to
structure
the
foreign
aid
in
separate
bills,
which
he
presented
to
his
Republican
colleagues
on
Monday
evening.

After
that
meeting,
Greene
expressed
her
discontent
with
Johnson’s
proposed
foreign
aid
bills
but
reiterated
that
she
had
not
yet
decided
whether
she
would
force
a
vote
to
oust
him.

“I
think
it’s
another
wrong
direction
for
Speaker
Johnson
in
our
conference,”
she
said
Monday.

Greene’s
motion
to
vacate
loomed
over
Saturday’s
vote.
Walking
into
the
House
chamber,
Majority
Leader
Steve
Scalise,
R-La.,
told
NBC
News
he
was
not
expecting
Greene
to
force
a
vote
on
the
motion
on
Saturday.