Former U.S. President Donald Trump has said foreign aid from a bill passed in the Senate should be provided as a loan. (Julia Nikhinson/AFP via Getty Images)
“Today we make [Russian President] Vladimir Putin regret the day he questioned America’s resolve, and we make clear to others like China’s President Xi [Jinping] not to test our determination,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor after the vote. “And we send a clear, bipartisan message of resolve to our allies in NATO.”
But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reiterated his opposition in a statement on Monday mere hours before the Senate moved forward with its final vote.
“The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world,” Johnson wrote in a statement. “In the absence of having received any single border policy change in the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters.”
[It's No Deal, Trump. He used to push the nonsense he was the best deal-maker in town. Now it's NO DEAL Trump. NOthing for Dems. NOthing for Biden. NOthing for the U.S.A. or anyone else until Trump is elected again. In dismal desperation 'No deal' Trump is holding his own country to ransom.]
The military support includes $19.9 billion for the Pentagon to backfill weapons sent to Ukraine through U.S. stockpiles and $13.7 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, allowing the Defense Department to ink longer-term contracts to send weapons to Kyiv. There’s also $1.6 billion in foreign military financing, allowing Ukraine and European countries impacted by Russia’s invasion to use the money to buy weapons from U.S. defense contractors.
The House failed to pass a stand-alone Israel aid bill last week amid opposition from Biden and Democrats unhappy with the lack of Ukraine assistance in the package.
“One the one hand, I strongly support aid to Ukraine,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., said in a statement before voting against the bill. “On the other hand, I strongly oppose sending more offensive military aid to Israel at a time when they are using American weapons in what President Biden has called an ‘indiscriminate’ campaign of bombing.”
Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., also voted against the Senate bill.
The bill includes $10.6 billion for the Defense Department to continue providing munitions and other weapons to Israel. That amount includes $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling air defense systems as well as $1.2 billion to procure the Iron Beam laser system to counter short-range rocket threats. There’s also another $3.5 billion in foreign military financing for Israel .. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2024/01/26/special-aid-tool-for-israel-approved-for-taiwans-use-but-not-ukraine/ .. to buy more military equipment with cash grants.
Another $2 billion in foreign military financing from the bill would go to Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific security partners. Additionally, the bill has $1.9 billion for the Defense Department to backfill weapons sent to Taiwan from U.S. stockpiles, providing the Pentagon’s long-requested funding that will allow it to use presidential drawdown authority to quickly transfer weapons to Taipei .. https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2023/04/06/pentagon-to-use-new-taiwan-arms-transfer-authority-similar-to-ukraine/ .
The U.S. hopes to deter a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan in the coming years by positioning as much materiel on the island as possible.
The bill also includes $3.3 billion to get the submarine-industrial base on course for the AUKUS agreement with Australia and Britain.
Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.
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