Speaker Mike Johnson’s foreign aid package will advance to the floor, after Democrats on the Rules Committee stepped in to counter conservative defections.
The contentious panel vote tees up the four-bill plan for floor consideration on aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as a fourth bill of related GOP policy priorities meant to entice otherwise skeptical Republicans to at least vote to allow debate on the package.
The bundle still needs to clear a so-called rule vote on the House floor before lawmakers formally begin debate and move to votes on passage of the individual bills. Though the House will hold separate final votes on each of the four bills, which is expected to occur on Saturday, they’ll be merged into one bill before being sent to the Senate.
Reps. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) voted against teeing up the bills for the floor. Normally opposition from three conservatives would be enough to scuttle Johnson’s plan in the committee. But Democrats on the panel on Thursday night helped move the package to the floor — a step that typically the minority party doesn’t do in the House.
www.politico.com/live-updates/2024/04/18/congress/mike-johnson-ukraine-aid-israel-00153275
TikTok is again facing an imminent threat from Congress.
On Wednesday, House Republicans added a hot-button bill that could lead to a nationwide TikTok ban to a wide-ranging foreign aid package intended to help Israel and Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson aims to hold a vote on the aid package as early as Saturday. If approved, it could fast-track what has become the most serious risk to TikTok’s US business since former President Donald Trump first proposed a ban of the popular app in 2020.
An earlier version of the TikTok bill sailed through the House in March, but it has become bogged down in the Senate. By including it in the aid package, House Republicans hope to force the Senate to a quick vote on a measure supporters say is necessary to protect Americans’ personal data from the Chinese government.
Opponents, including TikTok and a range of civil society groups, have argued the bill risks violating TikTok users’ First Amendment rights.
www.cnn.com/2024/04/18/tech/tiktok-ban-congress/index.html