Ukraine aid package

Ukraine aid package passes House, bucking GOP leaders and Trump

Eighteen Republicans broke ranks to help pass the military assistance and Russia sanctions.

Connor O'Brien

A new tranche of military assistance for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia passed the House on Thursday, delivering a fresh bipartisan blow to President Donald Trump’s foreign policy from Capitol Hill.

The measure passed despite Republican leadership’s resistance, with 18 GOP lawmakers supporting Democrats in a 226-195 vote.

It’s a strong show of support for Kyiv and the first time a standalone aid package has passed either chamber during Trump’s second term. Some Republicans have resisted allocating funding for Ukraine, especially since the president has opposed major aid packages and pushed for talks to end a war that has dragged into its fifth year.

The bill — which would provide $1.3 billion in security assistance for Kyiv and expand the suite of sanctions against Moscow — is the latest rebuke of the Trump administration’s national security policy, fueled partly by members of the president’s own party.

The House on Wednesday voted to halt the Iran war with four GOP members supporting the effort, the first time House Republicans have failed to hold the line on Trump’s authority over the military conflict. And the House Armed Services Committee is expected to advance defense legislation Thursday that limits reductions of U.S. troops in Europe.

A bipartisan coalition of 218 lawmakers forced a vote on the legislation — authored by House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Gregory Meeks — through a discharge petition begun by the New York Democrat nearly a year ago. The maneuver allows a majority of the House to advance bills that haven’t reached the floor through normal channels. Its success meant Speaker Mike Johnson could no longer block a long sought measure on Ukraine aid or Russia sanctions.

Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican who broke with the party to force the vote, urged his Republicans to “stand on the right side” of history. “This is our Churchill moment or our Chamberlain moment, and by God I’m going to choose Churchill,” Bacon said ahead of the vote on the House floor.

The effort has become a flashpoint in the GOP conference, with Johnson urging members to oppose the legislation in a closed-door party meeting this week. The vote was “not a reflection of Congress’ support for Ukraine,” Johnson said after the vote, calling the bill “poorly drafted.”

Numerous Republican defense hawks who support Ukraine opposed the Democratic-led bill, though, as they sought to avoid a political black eye for Republican leaders and Trump. But GOP support grew on Wednesday from the mere half dozen lawmakers who helped Democrats advance the bill.

Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), one of the Republicans who supported the final bill, said the legislation’s “core objectives ... were in America’s interests.”

“We need to stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression,” Hurd said. “Putin is a dictator. What they’re doing is wrong.”

Independent Kevin Kiley of California also supported the measure. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was the only Democrat to oppose it.

Republicans and Democrats have, in recent months, dinged the Trump administration for not seeking funding to help arm Ukraine and for not quickly spending money lawmakers allocated this year on security assistance for Kyiv or Baltic allies.

But the measure faces long odds of making it to Trump’s desk. The Senate has sidestepped efforts to vote on its own package of Russia sanctions, despite more than 80 senators signing on as cosponsors.