US Congress to vote on aid for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan: What’s the deal?

Showdown looms: Speaker Mike Johnson struggling to rally Republican malcontents, dependent on Democratic votes.

United States lawmakers are expected to vote on Saturday evening on three military aid packages for Ukraine, Israel and other allies in the Asia Pacific region.

The three bills are part of Speaker Mike Johnson’s complex strategy to get aid out to foreign allies while quelling a rebellion by hardline Republicans who would prefer to see cash spent at home on border security measures and are prepared to boot him out of his job to get their way.

For months, Johnson has rejected calls from the White House and much of Congress to allow a vote on a divisive $95bn foreign aid bill passed by the Senate back in February. Meanwhile, as extremists in his party fixate on the southern border, external conflicts have reached a tipping point.

Ukraine, which has been fending off Russia’s full-scale invasion for the past two years, is running out of ammunition. US military top commanders have warned that the country will be outgunned by 10 to one within weeks. The issue of security aid was given added urgency by Iran’s counterattack on Israel last weekend following an Israeli air strike on Iran’s embassy compound in Damascus, with calls to help America’s top ally in the Middle East bolster its air defence systems. On Thursday night, it was reported that Iran had fired air defence batteries to shoot down three drones over Isfahan.

Feeling the pressure, the speaker has now come up with a multi-pronged approach that would see three separate votes on partitioned bills, which largely mirror the Senate-passed package, allocating $60.84bn in long-delayed aid to Ukraine, just over $26bn for Israel and about $8bn for Asia Pacific allies – Taiwan, in the main – to counter Chinese expansionism.