The great Capitol rotunda beneath the Capitol dome. Photo by Jan Wondra.
Occasionally something big happens in Washington. This morning a bipartisan group of committee members of the U.S. House of Representatives agreed to move a $95 billion foreign aid package to the House floor for an up or down vote.
The legislation contains funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The House is scheduled to vote on passage of the bill on Saturday, but that vote could come with another bombshell. A vote on this foreign aid package may trigger a move to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican hanging on to the narrowest of majorities for anyone who has ever held that gavel.
The move comes after not just weeks, but months of dithering. The Ukraine aid package was assembled months ago, but based upon the wishes of former President (now presidential candidate) Donald Trump, not brought to a vote. Speaker Johnson has already been put on notice by Trump-mouthpiece Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green that he’ll face a recall if he allows a vote.
In this case — Johnson has to decide if he’ll do the right thing for the country — or for himself. He’s indicated that allowing a vote is “doing the country’s work.”
The delay has put the country of Ukraine, in its third year of fighting off an invasion from its “neighbor” Russia, on its back foot. It has had to fall back and cede territory on the east to Russian troops; literally rationing ammunition and pleading with its allies for weapons support, as it fights the West’s proxy war with Russia.
While the U.S. has always firmly supported Israel, the now-nearly seven-month-old war with Hamas has fractured that solid support, and generational divides over who is righteous and who is at fault are growing across the U.S.
Both China and the island nation of Taiwan have been closely watching this foreign aid debate; China because it covets Taiwan, and Taiwan because it wants to remain a free democracy.
So — when and if the U.S. House takes that vote tomorrow — we might all want to pay attention because there will be many important issues riding on that vote.
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