House Advances Foreign Aid Bill in Unusual Bipartisan Procedural Vote

House Democrats helped House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) advance a foreign aid package on Friday, a rare move to overcome opposition from some House Republicans. 

The Details: The 316-94 vote opened debate on the $95 billion proposal, which includes four bills that would provide assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan over the coming years. This kind of procedural “rule vote” is usually undertaken solely by the majority party, many outlets reported, but a group of House Republicans opposed it. During the vote, Democrats waited until it was clear there were not enough Republican votes, and then began voting in favor. While Democrats provided more yes-votes than Republicans, a majority of House Republicans voted to advance the package.

For Context: CIA Director William Burns warned Thursday that Ukraine could lose to Russia by the end of the year without additional aid. Opponents to the aid package include many of the same hard-line House Republicans at the center of past House controversies — including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who is pushing to oust Johnson as speaker over a purported “complete and total surrender” to Democrats. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ).

How the Media Covered It: Coverage was common, sometimes echoing attitudes about Ukraine funding and government spending. While The New York Times (Lean Left bias) hailed the vote as “a triumph against the forces of isolationism within the G.O.P. and a major moment of bipartisan consensus,” an opinion writer in The Daily Signal (Right bias) called Johnson “shrewd” for trying to pass “Biden’s foreign aid package.”