Although the House of Representatives returned to work this week after a two-week recess, the deadlock over a financial package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan passed by the Senate in February has not been broken. Despite frantic calls and calls from Democrats, foreign leaders and some politicians in his own party, House Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled no immediate action on the matter. On Thursday, he announced that the House would consider “all options” and deal with them after adopting the full-year budget, ie. Probably after March 22nd.
However, Rep. Brad Sherman of California, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is more optimistic. Ukraine will get the aid it needs, and that will happen this month. In an interview with PAP, he offered the three most – in his opinion – possible scenarios.
“The most likely scenario is that we will pass the bill in March. The second possibility is that Speaker Johnson will introduce a new version of the bill that is less helpful to Ukraine and introduce it in March. The third scenario is that we will use a very rarely successful procedure — a 'discharge petition' to force a vote on the bill. “In the 28 years I've been here, it's only been done twice,” the Democrat said.
Because this time, such a maneuver may succeed All three Republican congressmen, along with Democrats, must join the petition. At least two of them — Georgia Congressman Rich McCormick and U.S.-Ukraine House Caucus member Brian Fitzpatrick — have already publicly said they might do so.
In this situation, Sherman assessed that no support for Ukraine was – in his opinion – impossible.
Reaction to Radoslaw Sikorsky's appeal
The politician also noted appeals from Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who urged Congress in New York and Washington to adopt the bill, warning that otherwise America's credibility as an ally would suffer.
– I think that is certainly true. On the other hand, foreign governments treat the president's statements as promises made by the American people. These governments, after all, have copies of the US Constitution. This commitment is something that can be done by the US Congress and not by the President […]No matter how long he says he will support Ukraine, the congressman says.
He also evaluated Sikorsky mistimed his arrival, because it happened when the House of Representatives was not in session. He added that he should have met politicians who did not believe in helping Ukraine.
– Unfortunately, foreign guests often want to meet representatives of the administration, because they are very favorable to them. So it seems He came to convert those who had already converted – He assessed.
Another Democratic congressman, Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, is less optimistic about the chances of passing the Ukraine package.
– I think your Europeans have the right to shudder when they hear that we are not yet close to taking steps to prevent Russia from taking over Ukraine completely – he said in an interview with PAP.
– Our intelligence agencies tell us that the time to support Ukraine is short because without ammunition the Russian bombardment and attacks cannot be sustained indefinitely. Meanwhile, the Russians get it from North Korea or Iran, he added.
When asked, U.S. intelligence did not specify how much time Ukraine has, but stressed that help is urgently needed.
Cleaver agreed His Republican colleagues are less optimistic about the chances of working with Democrats to force the bill through. He also noted that Speaker Johnson's room for maneuver is being shortened by representatives of the radical wing of his party, who are threatening to remove him from office if he agrees to vote for aid to Ukraine. However, the congressman did not rule out that Democrats could save Johnson if the radical faction of Republicans followed through on their threats. Earlier, party leader Hakeem Gebris struck a similar tone in the House.
– This is an unprecedented situation, I will not rule it out. But it's all in the details, Cleaver said.