Congress was poised to approve a massive foreign aid package late Tuesday, ending a monthslong stalemate, delivering a massive win to President Biden and deepening America’s commitment to Ukraine and its war with Russia.
Once on life support with heavy opposition from House Republicans, the bill experienced a startling revival and was speeding through the Senate after clearing the House on Saturday.
Lawmakers said the reversal was easy to explain.
“One person,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican. “Speaker Johnson.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, once a Ukraine aid skeptic, finessed the package through the House without the border security changes he had promised his party. With a few tweaks, such as making some of the money a loan and seeking to use seized Russian assets to pay for part of it, he won over enough party members to get the bill through his chamber.
The legislation includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $23 billion for Israel and $9 billion for the Pacific region, specifically Taiwan, to combat Chinese aggression.
Also attached to the aid bills, which Mr. Biden has vowed to sign, were sanctions against Iran, Russia and China. It also includes a provision requiring TikTok’s parent company to sell the popular social media platform within a year or be banned in the U.S.
Mr. Biden first proposed a massive aid package for America’s allies in October and said Ukraine needed the money by the end of the year.
Congress blew through that deadline as lawmakers worked on a border security deal, which was seen as the linchpin of the deal. After the Senate defeated that bill in a bipartisan filibuster in February, prospects looked grim.
The administration won over Mr. Johnson by impressing on him what they thought to be at stake in Ukraine.
Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican, said the vote on the package became a “gut check.”
“Ultimately, it comes down to what’s the right thing to do and what would my people want me to do if they had the information that I have? And that’s how you make your decision, trying to follow your heart and you take your brain with you,” Mr. Kennedy said. “And I think that’s what the speaker did.”
Congress has already shelled out more than $70 billion in aid for Ukraine.
Those who supported the additional money said it’s a boon for the U.S., too. They said the money would replenish U.S. stockpiles with the latest weaponry, allowing surplus materials to be sent to Ukraine, where they have been effective in helping the outmanned and vastly outspent underdogs derail the Russian offensive.
Mr. Biden will now have won two substantial legislative victories in days.
Late Friday, the Senate cleared an expansion of the government’s chief spying authority under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The $95 billion price tag for the foreign aid bill was a problem for some senators.
“That’s a lot of money — especially at a time when many Americans are unable to afford their rent or pay their mortgages, pay their bills, afford health care, are struggling with student debt or many other needs,” said Sen. Bernard Sanders, Vermont independent.
As much as what’s in the bill, the measures are defined by what was left out: border security changes.
Mr. Johnson said for months that Republicans couldn’t go home to their voters and say they approved money to defend Ukraine’s borders but left America’s borders open.
He rejected the deal the Senate was working on and was unable to get Mr. Biden or Senate Democrats to agree to the kinds of changes the Republicans wanted.
He also tried to get senators to forgo the Ukraine aid and accept an Israel-only bill, but Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats insisted all the aid be combined, and Mr. Johnson relented.
Conservative Republicans viewed the foreign aid package as a massive win for the Biden administration and another battle where Republicans caved to Mr. Biden’s policy demands.
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said Republicans were “literally signing on and allowing Biden to get all of his policy.”
“Two years into this thing, a counteroffensive that didn’t work, now we’re in this bloody stalemate,” he said. “Why are we going to continue to feed the flames of a bloody stalemate? It makes no sense to me. And again, my fear, I hope I’m wrong, but my fear is the $61 billion will be spent and we’ll be in the same position one and a half, two years from now.”
Some Republicans said Mr. Johnson would have failed if he hadn’t come up with the sweeteners such as the loan idea.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, said that idea helped sway him to support the package.
“It’s just so much easier to go back home and say, ‘Listen, we’re asking people to pay us back when they can, if they can. We’re also going after the bad guys’ assets,’” Mr. Graham said. “This is just a much better package.”
Sen. Markwayne Mullin, Oklahoma Republican, said former President Donald Trump gets credit for that idea.
“Without the [loan] being in there … I don’t know if Johnson could ever have moved it down. And that all came originally from President Trump,” he said.