WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday urgently called for House Republicans to bring a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to a vote, warning that refusal to take up the bill would be “playing into Putin’s hands.”
The Senate passed the measure in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Kansas Senators Jerry Moran supported the aid; Roger Marshall did not.
“Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin,” Biden said, raising his voice in strong comments from the White House.
But the package faces a deeply uncertain future in the House, where hardline Republicans aligned with former President Donald Trump — a critic of support for Ukraine — opposes the legislation. Speaker Mike Johnson has cast new doubt on the package and made clear that it could be weeks or months before Congress sends the legislation to Biden’s desk — if at all.
The months-long push to approve the package has exposed growing political divisions in the Republican Party over the role of the United States abroad.
Biden also lashed at Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination who on Saturday said that he once warned he would allow Russia to do whatever it wants to NATO member nations that are “delinquent” in devoting 2% of their gross domestic product to defense.
“When America gives its word it means something,” Biden said. “Donald Trump looks at this as if it’s a burden.”
The Senate vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the $60 billion for Ukraine held the Senate floor through the night, using the final hours to argue that the U.S. should focus on its own problems before sending more money overseas.
But 22 Republicans voted with nearly all Democrats to pass the package 70-29, with supporters arguing that abandoning Ukraine could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and threaten national security across the globe.
“With this bill, the Senate declares that American leadership will not waver, will not falter, will not fail,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who worked closely with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on the legislation.
The bill’s passage through the Senate with a flourish of GOP support was a welcome sign for Ukraine amid critical shortages on the battlefield.
“Ukrainian soldiers out of artillery shells, Ukrainian units rationing rounds of ammunition to defend themselves, Ukrainian families worried that the next Russian strike will permanently plunge them into darkness, or worse,” Biden said.
The president appealed directly to House members with stark terms and called on Johnson to let the matter come to a vote.
“You got to decide,” Biden said. “Are you going to stand up for freedom? Or are you going to side with terror and tyranny? Are you going to stand with Ukrainian or are you going to stand with Putin?”
Ukraine supporters were hoping that the showing of bipartisan support in the Senate would pressure Johnson to advance the bill. McConnell has made Ukraine his top priority in recent months, and was resolute in the face of considerable pushback from his own GOP conference.
