Lawmakers plan to maneuver Ukraine aid through Congress

After months of congressional deadlock over foreign aid for Ukraine and Israel, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is ready to go around GOP House leaders to pass a compromise.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., last month unveiled the Defending Borders, Defending Democracy Act, a $66.3 billion bill designed to garner support from both parties. To do that, it would bundle many of Congress’ top priorities on a smaller scale: a little bit of border security, more money for Ukraine, and support for Israel.

Congress last approved funding for Ukraine in December 2022. Pentagon officials say that aid—$44.9 billion worth—has run out. The U.S. military is considering digging deeper into its own reserves to supply Ukraine.

Fitzpatrick recently returned from a personal visit to Ukraine with other members of Congress.

“I met with my friend, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy,” Fitzpatrick said in a statement. “In our discussion, I promised I would do whatever necessary to pass our bipartisan bill providing urgently needed military aid to Ukraine and protecting democracy in the region.”

Fitzpatrick’s draft bill would provide funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan—$47.6 billion of which would go to Ukraine. It would also temporarily empower the secretary of homeland security to shut U.S. ports of entry and authorize immigration officers to immediately remove migrants suspected of posing a threat to the safety of American citizens. The bill has 12 co-sponsors—six Democrats and six Republicans.

The House rejected a similar $93 billion package early last month. Fitzpatrick said the contents of his bill are subject to change, but there’s “more support for it than you think.”

When asked what his message would be to Republicans who won’t vote for Ukraine aid, Fitzpatrick said they need to look at the realities of Russian aggression.

“I think there’s a lot of people who know that it’s the right thing to do,” Fitzpatrick said. “They should go [to Ukraine] and see what’s going on. They should talk to members from the Intelligence Committee who understand how existential this is. This will become much more costly in terms of dollars and lives.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly said he is open to supporting Ukraine but not before Congress meaningfully addresses border security.

Other Republicans, however, aren’t even willing to go that far. To them, the United States has already thrown enough money at the conflict without results. To date, the U.S. has appropriated or sent military hardware to Ukraine worth a combined $119 billion, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

“I don’t care what’s in there. You’re not getting any money from me for Ukraine. There’s no strategy there,” Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, told me.

With some of its details still up in the air, many lawmakers are waiting until the text of the bill is final before deciding whether to support it. When asked whether he thinks the House speaker would support the bill enough to help move it forward, Fitzpatrick said Johnson understands the urgency.

“I think he knows how time-sensitive it is,” Fitzpatrick said.

Even so, Fitzpatrick is not waiting for the speaker to act. He informed reporters Thursday that he would try to advance the bill using a discharge petition, a seldom-used procedural tactic that can bring a piece of legislation to the floor over the opposition of party leadership. It requires the signature of 218 House members and can be initiated once a bill has sat in committee for 30 days. Fitzpatrick’s bill will cross that threshold the second week of March.

Discharge can take months to successfully carry out. But despite its slim odds, the maneuver presents a political challenge to Johnson. In the unlikely scenario where it succeeds, Johnson could be caught between a majority of the chamber and a small, vocal minority of his party.

Fitzpatrick is well aware of Johnson’s predicament. He sees that as a strategic advantage.

“This is just to apply a pressure point to get something done soon,” Fitzpatrick said. “We just want to send some Ukraine funding bill to pass the House—whether that’s ours or someone else’s.”