Another week has come and gone, and America’s political leaders are still focused on one thing: shipping more money to Ukraine.
On Friday, the GOP-controlled House advanced a rule allowing the lower chamber to pass what effectively amounts to a massive foreign spending package. The bills under consideration seek to ship U.S. taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, Israel (and Hamas-controlled Gaza), and Taiwan. A “divest-or-ban” bill that would prohibit TikTok from operating in the U.S. under its current China-based ownership will also reportedly be considered.
The aforementioned rule was passed Thursday night by the House Rules Committee with help from Democrats. The rule effectively allows the House to vote on each funding measure separately without having to combine them into one package before sending it to the Senate for consideration.
As Federalist Senior Tech Columnist Rachel Bovard explained, “[I]f each title passes, they will all be fused into one package without a final vote (known as a MIRV),” and that “package is then added as a House amendment to the Senate foreign aid bill (the two are effectively the same); in parliamentary speak, the House concurs in the Senate amendment with a House amendment.”
More Democrats than Republicans voted for the rule during Friday’s vote. The foreign funding bills are expected to be considered by the House on Saturday, according to The Hill.
So to unpack what’s happening in the House:
-the House Rules Committee reported out a rule last night with Democratic votes in a
