Congress to vote on much-anticipated $61 billion aid for Ukraine

The United States is kyiv’s main military supporter, but Congress has not passed a major package for its ally in nearly a year and a half, mainly due to partisan wrangling.

Is this the culmination of a series of months? The American House of Representatives will vote on Saturday April 20 on a major aid plan for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, supported by elected officials from both sides. Parliamentarians will vote from 1 p.m. (7 p.m. in Paris) on this gigantic envelope of 95 billion dollars (85 billion euros), including 61 billion dollars (57 billion euros) for Ukraine, requested for months by President Joe Biden.

They will vote at the same time on a possible ban on the TikTok application attached to this bill. If all these measures are adopted, they will be examined by the Senate immediately. Unveiled on Wednesday, these texts are the result of months of extremely acrimonious negotiations, the comings and goings of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, and pressure from allies around the world.

Standoff between Biden and Trump

The United States is kyiv’s main military backer, but Congress has not passed a major package for its ally in nearly a year and a half, mainly due to partisan wrangling. Democratic President Joe Biden and his party in Congress are very supportive of new aid for Ukraine. But the Republicans, led by Donald Trump, are increasingly reluctant to finance a conflict which is getting bogged down.

In the middle of an election year, the issue has transformed into a remote duel between the two presidential candidates. House Republican Leader Mike Johnson ended up supporting the package. “To put it bluntly: I would rather send ammunition to Ukraine than send our boys to fight”, he pleaded, not without a certain emotion, during a press conference. This aid plan also authorizes President Joe Biden to confiscate and sell Russian assets to be used to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.

The adoption of this envelope could cost Republican leader Mike Johnson his position: a handful of conservative elected officials, fiercely opposed to aid to Ukraine, have promised to do everything to remove the “speaker” in order to punish him for his support. His predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, had already been dismissed last year after a rebellion by the Trumpist wing of his party, which accused him of a “secret agreement” with the Democrats on Ukraine.