In a bipartisan fashion, the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday morning House approved a rule, 316-94, for debating foreign aid bills, with more Democrats than Republicans voting in favor of the GOP rule.
One hundred sixty-five Democrats voted in favor of the rule, which the GOP put to the floor for a vote, than Republicans (151) themselves. Fifty-five Republicans and 39 Democrats voted against advancing the bill.
The vote had more drama than a usual procedural rule advancement: House members went beyond the allotted vote time as Democrats and Republicans played a game of chicken. Almost all Democrats held back their votes, waiting to see how more Republicans would decide. After the vote, some House Democrats said they were holding back in case the GOP could advance the rule without needing their help. A flood of Democrats voted “yes” after House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-CA) changed his opposition vote to “yes.”
Final votes in the House are scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Members are set to vote on four separate bills to approve foreign aid assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as a bill to give ByteDance more time to divest its control of social media app TikTok. The bills are similar to a bipartisan foreign aid package that the U.S. Senate approved earlier this year.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus had opposed considering the bills because it would send more aid to Ukraine — instead calling for passing measures to tighten the U.S.-Mexico border — and had threatened to invoke the motion to vacate Mike Johnson (R-LA) as the Speaker if he goes through with his plans.
