Congress approves massive foreign aid package

President Joe Biden signed the foreign aid package, which features $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, on Wednesday after the bill swiftly moved through Congress. The breakdown of aid is as follows: $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and $8 billion for Taiwan.

Speaker Mike Johnson infuriated some of his Republican colleagues by even negotiating on the legislation, let alone bringing it to the House floor for a vote; he previously said he would not move any foreign aid until Democrats agreed to give additional funds for border security. Instead, after the Senate rejected the border security bill HR-2 and Johnson rejected the Senate-negotiated immigration package, the speaker made moves to go ahead with sending money abroad anyway. He appeared to justify the flip-flop by meeting with former president Donald Trump recently and promising to condition Ukraine aid as a loan. However, the bill offers the president the ability to forgive the loan and Senator Mitt Romney admitted publicly that Congress does not expect Ukraine being required to actually pay back any of the money. The bill sailed through the Senate, although fifteen Republicans and three Democrats voted against it. 

Representative Thomas Massie, one of the Republicans siding with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to oust Johnson from the speaker chair, angrily posted a clip to X of Democrats waving waving Ukrainian flags after the vote in the House. He said it was evidence of the left “celebrating” Johnson’s “total capitulation.” Because recording video on the House floor is prohibited, the sergeant-at-arms reportedly reached out to Massie and told him to remove the video or pay a $500 fine.

“Instead of fining Democrats for waving flags, the House sergeant-at-arms just called and said I will be fined $500 if I don’t delete this video post. Mike Johnson really wants to memory hole this betrayal of America,” Massie tweeted. 

The speaker’s office said they reached out to the sergeant-at-arms and got them to remove the fine.

The Democrats are facing their own issues with the aid package. The progressive base, reflected in rowdy pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, are furious with President Joe Biden’s perpetual support of Israel and his decision to continue to send them aid.

“That heartless decision could mark the point of no return for what remains of the White House’s relationship with the American Muslim community and other Americans opposed to the genocide in Gaza,” Council on American-Islamic Relations’ government affairs director Robert McCaw said in a statement to NBC News. 

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged her supporters to reach out to the fifty-eight House members who voted against the package: “If you support how these folks voted, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to let them know. They will be under relentless pressure and attack. It is important to show support.” The list includes names like Representatives Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Matt Rosendale and Ryan Zinke — conservatives who you would be hard pressed to think of another scenario in which Ocasio-Cortez would applaud them. 

In addition, the foreign aid package contained the hotly-debated TikTok divestment bill, which is vehemently opposed by young voters. TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, will be forced to sell the app or face being banned in the United States. 

-Amber Duke

On our radar

RIP DONALD PAYNE JR. New Jersey congressman Donald Payne Jr. died Wednesday from a heart attack stemming from complications related to his diabetes. He had represented New Jersey’s 10th district as a Democrat since 2013. 

NON-COMPETES NULL The Federal Trade Commission announced a new rule this week banning employer-employee contracts from containing “non-compete” clauses. These agreements sought to prohibit employees from working for rivals within the same industry for a period of time after leaving their jobs. 

COLUMBIA CANCELED Speaker Mike Johnson called on the president of Columbia University to resign as pro-Palestinian protests, including physical encampments, have rocked the campus. The president announced a remote-optional policy for classes for the rest of the semester as Jewish students express fears for their safety. 

Democrats double down on abortion fear-mongering

President Joe Biden is underwater in polling on key issues such as inflation, the economy and immigration — which voters consistently say are most important to them heading into November. One bright light for the president, however, has been abortion. Democrats across the country are leaning heavily into the issue to try and baselessly fear monger like their jobs depend on it (perhaps because they do). 

The most extreme agitation goes to California’s governor, Gavin Newsom. His group, Campaign for Democracy PAC, is running ads titled “Hostage and Fugitive” in red states that have pro-life laws. One features cops pulling over and arresting a woman trying to get an out-of-state abortion after they administer a pregnancy test on the side of the road. Another features a crying young woman handcuffed to a hospital bed.

The ads are tailor-made to gin up excitement, rage and small dollars from #Resistance liberals, but they also squarely fit into the Democrats’ plan of keeping abortion front and center for as long as possible. They effectively used the issue to their advantage in 2022, after all, so why not double down? 

Biden is complementing Newsom’s push in a multitude of ways in recent weeks. Beyond returning to Florida to deliver an abortion-themed speech — where he blamed the state’s new restrictions on Trump to a comically-small audience — his administration is also rolling out a rule to prevent hospitals from sharing abortion-related medical records with law enforcement. This policy is rooted in fear that these records will be used to arrest women who travel out of state to skirt their home states’ abortion laws. Currently, abortion-related records are used both anonymously for research purposes and in abuse cases. For example, police might seek abortion records in investigations into child sexual abuse or abuse by men against their pregnant partners. 

–Matthew Foldi

SCOTUS considers homelessness crisis

Is not being allowed to sleep outside in public places a form of “cruel and unusual punishment”? Some people “experiencing homelessness” in Grants Pass, Oregon, (it isn’t PC to call them “homeless people” anymore) think so. They sued the city, arguing that clearing public encampments essentially bars the right to be homeless and thus violates the Eighth Amendment. The US Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on Monday and is expected to make a decision this summer.

The BBC reports the case started when Grants Pass “barred camping or sleeping on public property or in city parks, defining ‘campsite’ as any place where ‘bedding, sleeping bag or other material used for bedding purpose, or any stove or fire is placed.’” Those who violate the ordinance could be fined $295, an unlikely fee a for a homeless person to pay, “or face twenty days in jail for repeat offenses.”

The court appears to be split between liberal justices contending that sleeping is a basic human right — Sotomayor pointed out that she sometimes falls asleep on the beach — and the more conservative justices who appear to view the matter as a states’ rights issue. “Why do you think these nine people are the best people to judge and weigh those policy judgments?” Chief Justice John Roberts wondered. 

This decision is set to come, by the way, as the homeless crisis in America has hit historic levels.

–Teresa Mull