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Foreign aid supplemental unveiled in House; White House supports

David Lerman and Aidan Quigley, CQ-Roll Call on

Published in News & Features

WASHINGTON — Speaker Mike Johnson pulled the trigger Wednesday on an emergency aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, along with a separate bill on border security that came after a late night of negotiating with GOP members.

Appropriators released three separate bills for Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific allies and the domestic submarine industrial base totaling $95.3 billion.

The contents are similar to the Senate-passed version, with $60.8 billion for the Ukraine war effort, and nearly $26.4 billion in military aid to Israel and humanitarian assistance for Gaza. A third bill, totaling $8.1 billion, would provide nearly $4 billion in security assistance to Taiwan and other regional allies along with money to replenish depleted U.S. stocks, $3.3 billion for submarine infrastructure and more.

But there’s a key difference: Roughly $9.5 billion in economic aid to Ukraine would be structured as a loan, with repayment terms set by the president.

The repayment requirement could be waived on an installment plan, with up to 50% of the loans forgiven shortly after the November elections, and the remainder starting in 2026. But Congress would get a shot to override any presidential waiver with a resolution of disapproval that’s subject to expedited procedures, with debate limited to 10 hours in the Senate and no amendments.

President Joe Biden signaled he didn’t have any problems with the new set of bills, saying he “strongly” supports the package in a statement Wednesday.

 

“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” Biden said. “I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.”

Johnson, R-La., in a text message Wednesday morning to GOP conference members, said a fourth bill would be posted later in the day. It would include measures to seize frozen Russian assets, force the divestiture of the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, and impose sanctions on Russia, China and Iran, among other things.

But in a new twist, Johnson also said he would move an additional bill, handled under a separate rule, to toughen security measures at the southern U.S. border. He said the bill would contain the “core components” of HR 2, which passed the House last year over solid Democratic opposition.

Johnson said final votes on the package would occur Saturday night. But both chambers are scheduled to be in recess next week, and it wasn’t clear whether the Senate would stay in session to take up the bills immediately.

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