House overwhelmingly approves Ukraine aid
by Mychael Schnell - 09/28/23 11:06 PM ETThe House late Thursday night overwhelmingly approved $300 million in new aid to Ukraine.
The 311-117 vote came after House GOP leaders on Wednesday stripped the Ukraine assistance from a Pentagon funding bill. All “no” votes came from Republicans.
Though it drew broad support, the funding has been a source of controversy for the past week.
The $300 million was initially included in legislation funding the Department of Defense for fiscal year 2024, which drew opposition from hardline Republicans.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters last week that he would remove the $300 million from the defense bill and hold a separate vote on the funding after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) joined a band of conservatives in sinking a procedural vote to advance the Pentagon measure.
But the Speaker backtracked one day later, announcing that he would not separate the Ukraine aid from the defense bill after realizing that the appropriations measure to fund the State Department also included assistance for Kyiv. He said it would be “too difficult” to remove the Ukraine aid from the State Department legislation, and would ultimately leave both as they were.
The House went ahead and adopted a combined rule — which governs debate on legislation — for the two measures and two other appropriations bills. Greene was the lone “no” vote.
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https://thehill.com/policy/defense/4229414-house-overwhelmingly-approves-ukraine-aid/
