The House of Representatives passed a bill to send aid to Ukraine on Saturday even as the issue has divided the GOP.
The House of Representatives has approved sending $60 billion to Ukraine for its defense against Russia’s invasion, an issue that has roiled Speaker Mike Johnson’s already perilously slim majority.
The aid package passed 311 to 112, with more Democrats voted in favor than Republicans – and just 101 Republicans voted for the bill while 112 voted nay.
In a dramatic moment toward the end of the vote, Democrats began passing around Ukrainian flags — in violation of House protocol, according to the lawmaker presiding over the vote, Rep. Marc Molinaro. The left side of the aisle exploded in cheers when the timer on the vote reached zero, earning admonishment from Molinaro, who told them the flag-waving was in violation of the rules and called it « inappropriate, » to which Democrats jeered.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., took to the microphones to chide, « Put those d–n flags away, » earning more verbal backlash from Democrats before the chamber was called to order for the next vote.
House lawmakers are in session on a rare Saturday working to pass Johnson’s foreign aid plan, which also includes aid bills for Israel and the Indo-Pacific, as well as a bill with other national security measures.
The close margins within the GOP alone show what a divisive topic Ukraine funding has become for the right.
