The House passed the long-delayed Ukraine foreign aid bill on Saturday, sending it to the Senate for quick approval. H.R. 8035 passed by a vote of 311-112. A majority of Republicans voted against the bill.
At long last, the House has passed Ukraine funding, with all Democrats present voting yes and carrying the vote: pic.twitter.com/84oDP0wppX
— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) April 20, 2024
Four amendments were offered to the bill, but all failed.
Spartz (R-IN) – Amendment No. 1 – Strike sections 401, 402, 403, and 407 — Rejected: 105 Yea, 319 Nay.
Greene (R-GA) – Amendment No. 2 – Reduces every dollar amount in the bill to zero — Rejected: 71 Yea, 351 Nay.
Hern (R-OK) – Amendment No. 3 – Prohibits funds made available in the “Economic Support Fund” account from being used to pay pensions or government salaries – NOT OFFERED.
Note: I don’t know why this amendment was offered, as the bill’s text prohibits pension support. See page 22.
That none of the funds made available for budget support pursuant to the preceding proviso may be made available for the reimbursement of pensions:
Cammack (R-FL) – Amendment No. 4 – Eliminates all non-military funding related to Ukraine — Rejected: 154 Yea, 272 Nay.
Chip Roy offered a motion to recommit the bill, but it failed with 88 Yea and 336 Nay.
Observations:
This may be one of the few major pieces of legislation that has ever passed the House without the support of the majority party. Speaker Johnson’s failure to get the bill out of the Rule Committee and pass it highlights his weakness personally and institutionally.
Support for all of the amendments was much weaker than support for the whole bill. The strongest amendment, that by Florida’s Kat Cammack, removed non-military aid. Spartz’s amendment drastically reduced the amount available for military assistance, for instance, reducing presidential drawdown authority from $7.8 billion to $100,000.
Looking at the final vote and the amendment tallies, my assessment is that the core of the opposition is to economic aid to Ukraine. The opposition to military aid is there, but it is irrelevant at this point.
