US President Joe Biden has signed a package of bills granting $95 billion in financial and military assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region. The aid package includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific.
The package also includes a nine-month window for the TikTok video-sharing application to sell its stakes in the US or face a complete ban. The aid package for Ukraine was passed despite opposition from some members of Congress who believe that the war is unwinnable.
The aid package for Ukraine did not come easy as President Volodymyr Zelensky rigorously lobbied causing a split in the House of Representatives, jeopardising the position of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson met with Donald Trump in Florida earlier in April where the former president said Johnson was “doing a really good job.” Several members of the House did not back the aid package to Ukraine and the way Johnson led the discussions on the matter. Legislators in Congress believe that it is an unwinnable war that started in February 2022 by the special military operation of Russia.
The 81-year-old President also continued to mend fences in the House and moved forward enabling high US government officials to explain the stakes and the fate of democracy in Europe and in the world. The vote regarding the package in the Senate was 79-18, in which 15 Republicans and three Democrats voted against the bill. Senator Bernie Sanders, who was against the bill wrote on X, former Twitter: “Enough is enough. No more money for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war machine.”
The differences were set aside in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives changed course and approved the bills Saturday. “Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: We stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression,” Biden said after the Senate vote.
