US Congress has at least 2 plans B on how to approve American aid for Ukraine

The US Congress is considering different ways of approving aid for Ukraine. There are back-up plans.

Source: European Pravda with reference to The Hill

Details: The most favourable option discussed by lawmakers in the lower chamber of Congress is the application of a discharge petition – the procedure that allows submitting the issue for voting by bypassing committees and the speaker.

In order for a discharge petition to be applied, the signatures of a simple majority of the House of Representatives (218 members) must be gathered. The Democrats already have a petition with 213 signatures, which they prepared last year during the discussions concerning raising the cap on US state debt.

Tom Suozzi, new member of the House of Representatives (elected after Republican George Santos was eliminated from the chamber), is also likely to give his signature. But several progressive Democrats, however, will likely remove their names from the petition to protest military aid to Israel.

So for the success of the discharge petition, the Democrats in the lower chamber need the support of several Republicans. This is a political risk for them since they openly act against their leadership. At the moment, only one Republican, Greg Murphy, has publicly expressed his readiness to join the petition.

Another alternative option of approving aid for Ukraine in Congress provides for adopting an alternative bill that would include measures for US-Mexico border security and funding for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.

According to one of the initiators, Republican Don Bacon, the entire package would have a price tag of around US$60 billion — far less than the US$95 billion proposal passed out of the Senate this week — with roughly US$40 billion going towards Ukraine. The initiators think that this bill has more chances to be approved since it does not include funds for humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza which would not be accepted by the Republicans.

Background:

• This week the US Senate voted in favour of a package bill that includes US$61 billion to support Ukraine in its resistance against Russian aggression, US$14 billion for Israel in its war against HAMAS and US$4.83 billion for the support of partners in the Indo-Pacific regions, mainly Taiwan, and deterring the aggression from the side of China.
• It is so far unknown whether a sufficient number of Republicans in the House of Representatives will agree to support the project after it is approved by the Senate.
• Speaker Mike Johnson stated earlier that he would not submit a bill for voting if it did not contain steps towards protecting the US southern border. But some Republicans are already publicly pressuring Johnson, demanding that he approve the document.

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