The House of Representatives approved sending $60 billion to Ukraine for its defense against Russia’s invasion Saturday.
The aid package passed 311 to 112, with more Democrats voting favor of the bill than Republicans.
Democrats began passing around Ukrainian flags, in violation of House protocol, according to Rep. Marc Molinaro.
“Put those [expletive] flags away,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, (R-FL.) said.
House lawmakers are in session on a rare Saturday working to pass Johnson’s $95 billion foreign aid plan, which also includes aid bills for Israel and the Indo-Pacific, as well as a bill with other national security measures. In a decisive victory for the Louisiana Republican, all four bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
A growing number of fiscal conservatives have been skeptical about the U.S.’s continued financial involvement with Ukraine, while others have raised questions about corruption within Kyiv’s government.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s proposal to strip all funding related to Ukraine from the Ukraine funding bill predictably failed Saturday in a 71 to 351 vote.
More traditional Republicans and national security hawks warn that Ukraine’s victory is critical to preventing a wider conflict between NATO and Russia, warning that its President Vladimir Putin is rapidly forming a second “axis of evil” with Iran and China.
Johnson, who like his conservative colleagues was skeptical of Ukraine aid before becoming speaker, gave a sober warning earlier this week. “I really do believe the intel and the briefings that we’ve gotten that I believe [Chinese President Xi Jinpimg] and Vladimir Putin and Iran really are an axis of evil. And I think they’re in coordination on this. I think that Vladimir Putin would continue to march through Europe if he were allowed. I think he might go to the Balkans next. I think he might have a showdown with Poland or one of our NATO allies,” he told reporters. “To put it bluntly, I would rather send bullets to Ukraine than American boys,” he said.
