House passes Ukraine aid bill despite GOP leadership opposition

The House voted Thursday to approve new aid for Ukraine and sanctions targeting Russia, as a small group of Republicans joined Democrats to force action over the objections of GOP leaders and in conflict with President Donald Trump’s approach to the war.

The Ukraine Support Act passed 226-195. Eighteen Republicans backed the measure, joining all but one Democrat. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who had signed the petition that helped bring the bill to the floor, voted against it.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would authorize up to $8 billion in Foreign Military Financing loans for Ukraine and NATO allies. It also includes more than $1 billion for Ukraine security and reconstruction, Baltic security and Radio Free Europe, along with new sanctions aimed at key parts of the Russian economy. The bill also reaffirms the importance of NATO.

Meeks said after the vote that the bill “works to end one of the world’s deadliest conflicts by ensuring Ukraine is able to negotiate from a position of strength and not weakness.” During debate, he framed the issue as a test of whether the United States would continue backing Ukraine.

“We all want this war to end,” Meeks said. “The question is how. Will we abandon Ukraine and force it into a terrible deal? That is what Vladimir Putin is counting on. Or will this body live up to the commitments we’ve made since the start of this war?”

Supporters used a discharge petition, a procedural tool that lets a House majority bypass leadership, to bring the bill to a vote. Meeks launched the petition nearly a year ago. It reached the required 218 signatures on May 13, when Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, an independent who caucuses with Republicans, became the decisive signer. Every Democrat and two Republicans, Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, also signed it.

In a key vote Wednesday to discharge the measure from the House Rules Committee, six Republicans joined Democrats to move it toward final passage.

Republican leaders opposed the bill. Rep. Brian Mast, the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he believed the measure was “a cudgel to fight against President Trump.”

“This bill, in my opinion, is an unserious bill that was crafted basically a year-and-a-half ago,” Mast said.

Bacon broke with most Republicans in supporting the measure. “Are we going to stand with good or are we going to stand with evil? That’s what this is about tonight,” he said.

Fitzpatrick said the vote could pressure the Senate even if the bill faces long odds there. “It’s probably not going to get 60 votes in the Senate, but it’s going to hopefully force the Senate to address the issue,” he said. “It’s going to send a great message to the soldiers of Ukraine.” He said it would also tell Putin that “we do have a pulse here, that we do care about Ukraine and that we are going to utilize our authority to help them.”

The bill now heads to the Senate, where Republicans pose a steeper challenge and where its fate is uncertain unless Trump supports it. If the Senate passes it, Trump would need to sign it for the measure to become law.

The vote marked the House’s second major foreign policy break with Trump this week. On Wednesday, four Republicans joined Democrats to pass a largely symbolic war powers resolution directing Trump to remove U.S. forces from Iran unless Congress authorizes their presence. Republicans had rejected three earlier attempts this year to pass a war powers resolution.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has sought more U.S. support as Russia intensifies attacks. CBS News reported that Zelenskyy sent a letter last week to Trump and Congress requesting additional Patriot ballistic missile interceptors.

The Guardian reported that the United States has approved about $195 billion for the Ukraine response, citing the latest quarterly inspector general report for Operation Atlantic Resolve, with roughly a quarter used to replenish U.S. military weapons stockpiles. The last major Ukraine aid legislation passed in April 2024, though smaller amounts have since been included in annual appropriations bills.