Congressional Republicans divided as foreign aid package advances

The House of Representatives voted 316-94 on Friday morning to tee up a vote on a package of aid for Israel, Ukraine, and American allies in the Indo-Pacific. The House will consider the measures Saturday afternoon alongside a border security package. The combined cost of the bills add up to $95 billion.

In total, 165 Democrats supported the vote along with 151 Republicans. The advancement of the bills marks the first time in almost a year since the chamber has considered aid for Ukraine—a sharp area of disagreement between the most conservative members of the chamber and GOP leadership. Conservatives like Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., have demanded that Congress first secure the U.S. southern border before sending any more aid overseas.

Why does it matter? Democrats rarely contribute votes to help Republican legislation clear procedural hurdles—even if they may ultimately support the bill. But to pass foreign aid legislation, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., needed help from the minority.

That irregularity was on full display on Thursday night. Republicans hold a majority in the powerful Rules Committee, but the bills only passed out of the committee because of Democratic support. In a 9-3 vote, all four Democrats in the committee supported moving legislation to the House floor. Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., Chip Roy, R-Tx., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., all voted against the bill in committee. Such a vote hasn’t occurred in the Rules Committee in at least 40 years, according to the committee’s records.

How are Republicans responding to the votes? The support from Democrats has further agitated Republicans upset with Johnson’s leadership. Following the Friday morning vote, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., said he would join an effort started last month to remove Speaker Johnson.

“Congress cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the consequence of Biden’s disastrous open border policies, nor can it idly wait for Biden to halt this invasion through executive fiat,” Gosar said in a statement. “We need a speaker who puts America first rather than bending to the reckless demands of the warmongers.”

He is now the third Republican to have called for Johnsons’ removal, joining Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

Dig deeper: Read my reporting on what’s in the four bills and why they have divided Republicans.