By Annie Karni

WASHINGTON — The House took a critical step Friday (19)  toward approving a long-stalled package of aid to Ukraine, Israel and other US allies, as Democrats supplied the crucial votes to push the legislation past Republican opposition so that it could be considered on the floor.

The 316-94 vote cleared the way for the House to bring up the aid package, teeing up separate votes Saturday (20) on each of its parts. But passage of those measures, each of which enjoys bipartisan support from different coalitions, was not in doubt, making Friday’s action the key indicator that the legislation will prevail.

The rule for considering the bill — historically a straight party-line vote — passed with more Democratic than Republican support, but it also won a majority of GOP votes, making it clear that despite a pocket of deep resistance from the far-right, there is broad bipartisan backing for the $95.3 billion package.

The vote was an enormous victory in the long effort to fund Ukraine as it battles against Russian aggression, a major priority of President Joe Biden that has met with bitter resistance from the right. It was a triumph against the forces of isolationism within the GOP and a major moment of bipartisan consensus in a Congress that for the past year has been mostly defined by its dysfunction.

But it came only after Speaker Mike Johnson, who put his own job on the line to push through the plan over his party’s objections, was forced to turn to Democrats in a significant breach of custom in the House, further imperilling his position even as he paved the way for the legislation to be voted on and approved.

On the House floor, Democrats held back their votes until it was clear there was not enough Republican support for the measure to pass without their backing, and then their “yes” votes began pouring in. Ultimately, 165 Democrats voted for the measure, more than the 149 Republicans who supported it.

“Democrats, once again, will be the adults in the room, and I’m so glad Republicans finally realize the gravity of the situation and the urgency with which we must act,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee. “But you don’t get an award around here for doing your damn job.”

McGovern blamed a “MAGA minority that doesn’t want to compromise” for the long delay on sending aid to Ukraine. But he said that Democrats were providing the votes necessary to advance the legislation because “so much more is at stake here than petty partisanship.”

It was the second time during this Congress that Republicans have had to rely on Democratic votes in the House to even bring to the floor legislation to address a critical issue. They did so last year to allow for a vote to suspend the debt ceiling bill and avoid a catastrophic federal default. On that vote, 29 Republicans voted to oppose the rule. On Friday, 55 Republicans voted against their own speaker’s agenda.

Republicans also have needed Democrats to pass several major pieces of legislation. Those include multiple spending measures to keep the government funded and the annual defence bill, after a revolt from the far-right over the exclusion of restrictions they had sought to abortion access, transgender care, and racial diversity and inclusion policies at the Pentagon.

Many Republicans spoke Friday in favour of the legislation to send aid to Ukraine and Israel. Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas and the chair of the rules panel said he wanted the Biden administration to provide more information about how previous foreign aid funding was used and what its long-term goals were for ending the conflict in Ukraine.

He said Republicans would continue to push for accountability but conceded that “today we are at an inflexion point. Lack of aid now could cost us much more dearly later, and I don’t want that to become a reality.”

But the far-right flank of the Republican conference, which has wielded outsized power in a tiny majority, spoke out to oppose the bill.

“I’m concerned that the speaker’s cut a deal with the Democrats to fund foreign wars rather than secure our border,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., one of the most vocal opponents of the legislation who has threatened to vote to oust Johnson because of it.

In order to steer around opposition from members of his own party, Johnson broke down the package into three pieces, adding a fourth bill to sweeten the deal for conservatives.

The rule was critical to Johnson’s strategy, because it allows separate votes on aid to Israel and aid to Ukraine, which are supported by different coalitions, but then folds them together without requiring lawmakers to cast an up-or-down vote on the entire bill.

That made it the only all-or-nothing vote that lawmakers will face on the foreign aid package, in many ways making it more important than any of the votes on the individual pieces of the plan. The measure also includes a package of sweeteners including a bill to require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States.

“This was all precooked,” hard-right Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, fumed as he rose to oppose the rule. “It’s why President Biden and Chuck Schumer are praising it.”

Friday’s key vote came after Republicans on the House Rules Committee late Thursday night were also forced to rely on Democratic votes to move the legislation out of the committee and onto the House floor. The far-right lawmakers who tried to block the rule in committee — Massie, Roy and Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina — opposed it because it would not allow a vote on severe border security provisions they have said should be prioritized over aiding Ukraine.

Under the rule approved Friday, Republicans will be allowed two chances to zero out or limit the funding for Ukraine, but those efforts are expected to fail.

-New York Times