House Democrats and centrist Republicans launch separate efforts to force a vote on Ukraine aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats as well as a small group of centrist Republicans on Tuesday launched separate long-shot efforts to force a vote on tens of billions of dollars in wartime aid for Ukraine, intensifying pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to take up the foreign funding package.

Democrats, as the minority in the House, began gathering signatures to force a floor vote on the Senate’s $95 billion package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan through a “discharge petition” — a seldom-successful procedural tool that can circumvent the speaker’s control over which bills come up for a vote. And shortly after, a group of Republicans launched their own signature drive for a bill that would trim the package to $66 billion, mostly for military aid, and include border security provisions.

The moves underscored the stubborn impasse in Congress over the roughly $60 billion in military aid for Ukraine, with conservatives balking at providing more ammunition and weaponry for Kyiv. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, has resisted taking up the package passed by the Senate last month and insisted that the House work its own will on the matter. He has suggested the House will turn to the package only after government funding is settled — and he still insists the money must be paired with policy changes at the U.S. border with Mexico.

At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers have suffered from shortages of ammunition as U.S. supplies have been shut off in recent months.

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