U.S. House of Representatives preparing to vote on Ukraine aid

On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives launched a session, during which it is supposed to finish consideration of and vote on a package of bills laying down foreign aid, including more than $60 billion in support to Ukraine.

It is expected that after the adoption in the lower house of Congress, the legislative initiative will be immediately forwarded to the Senate, reports Ukrinform's own correspondent.

The House vote will come after months of political squabbles and attempts by Republicans to block legislation that passed Senate in February. At the same time, the version of the bill put forward in the House does not significantly differ from the Senate one, but in order to ensure maximum freedom for discussions and voting on each provision, it was divided into four separate bills. They relate to assistance to Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific region, as well as other U.S. national security needs.

It is expected that the four parts will be voted on separately, after which they will be combined into one package before being filed with Senate for consideration.

However, the consideration process in the House of Representatives is accompanied by risks from far-right lawmakers who continue to threaten the speaker's dismissal procedure.

The process of consideration in the House began at 9:00 local time on Saturday. It is expected that the main vote will kick off at 13:00 (at around 20:00 Kyiv time).

Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate would also remain in place over the weekend to pass a House-backed version of the bill as soon as possible.

As reported, U.S. President Joe Biden assessed positively the initiative of House Speaker Mike Johnson to consider and vote on a package of four separate bills. He also urged Congress to consider aid as soon as possible and send the legislation to the White House for the presidential signature.