As momentum in the Russia-Ukraine War shifts in Kyiv’s favor, the US Congress took a tentative step last week toward rewarding Ukraine’s progress with much-needed weapons for their troops and support for the country.
Ukraine has stemmed the tide of Putin’s invasion in recent months and is increasingly taking the fight to Russia, including multiple attacks on military and industrial targets in St. Petersburg during a flagship international economic forum that is often referred to as Putin’s Davos.
Russia has responded to these setbacks by ratcheting up attacks on Ukrainian civilians. In early June, Russian forces launched one of the war’s largest attacks against Kyiv, sending around seventy rockets including hypersonic missiles and approximately 650 drones into the city and surrounding neighborhoods. At least twenty-two people were killed and more than 130 were injured.
Meanwhile in Washington, the House of Representatives took up the Ukraine Support Act last week. The bill passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 226-195. This legislation is a fairly comprehensive approach to providing Ukraine with continued support through additional security assistance, expanded intelligence cooperation, further sanctions and tariffs on Russia, and support for rebuilding Ukraine once the war is over.
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The Ukraine Support Act had an unusual pathway to passage. It was brought to the floor under a discharge petition, a procedure that allows a majority of House members to force a bill out of committee and send it directly to the floor for consideration, whether the speaker wants it there or not. Until recently, it was incredibly rare for discharge petitions to succeed. From 2003 to 2023, only two discharge petitions met the threshold to be brought to the House floor. But from 2024 to 2026, seven bills have been passed under discharge, including this one.
Leading up to and directly after the vote, many Republican leaders took great pains to publicly say they support Ukraine, but don’t support this bill for several reasons. They argued that there were provisions in the bill that were actually weaker on Russia than the current status quo. For example, there is a provision calling for NATO countries to increase their defense spending to two percent of gross domestic product. However, US President Donald Trump secured a five percent commitment from NATO at last year’s summit, a much stronger commitment in the face of Russia’s aggression.
Most importantly according to Republican leadership, the legislation undermines Trump’s ongoing negotiations to resolve the war between Ukraine and Russia. The argument is a legitimate one. Congress should, in general, defer to the administration when it comes to foreign policy. And these kinds of peace negotiations are complex. Negotiators need flexibility to keep talks progressing.
But I don’t believe this legislation undermines the negotiations; quite the opposite, actually. Putin has made it clear through both his words and actions that he has no intention of prioritizing peace or ending this war unless he is forced to do so. This legislation would help to further cripple his regime while bolstering Ukraine’s military capabilities, strengthening Trump’s hand at the negotiating table.
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Unfortunately, it’s doubtful this legislation will pass the Senate. That’s not because it wouldn’t have the support, but because it’s unlikely it will be put on the floor. Senate procedure is arduous and it can take days to get a bill through the rigmarole to final passage. That means floor time in the Senate is precious and is usually reserved for either large pieces of critical legislation, like appropriations packages, or legislation that will be easy to pass. This bill is neither.
In addition, since the White House is opposed to this legislation, it is unlikely that Senate Republican leaders who control the floor would allow it to move forward. In fact, the Senate has its own version of this package led by Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) that has more than eighty cosponsors, including forty-one Republicans. Yet Republican leaders in the Senate, who are also cosponsors of the legislation, have yet to bring the bill to the floor in the face of White House opposition. And the Senate doesn’t have a discharge petition process like the House, meaning there is no way to force the bill to the floor.
Despite these obstacles, the bill’s House passage shouldn’t be considered a fruitless endeavor because of the important message it sends to US allies and adversaries alike. There has been a worrying narrative permeating throughout the media that Republicans, or even Americans more broadly, don’t support Ukraine. Last week’s vote makes clear this is absolutely not the case. Eighteen House Republicans were willing to defy both House leadership and the White House to support the Ukraine Support Act. That is a significant political statement at a time when President Trump maintains a strong hold on the party. In fact, only one other bill this Congress has convinced more Republicans to buck the White House, the Protect America’s Workforce Act, which aimed to restore collective bargaining rights to certain federal workers.
Sending actual weapons, particularly Patriot batteries and interceptors, and implementing punishing sanctions is obviously preferred to non-binding demonstrations of support. But last week’s vote is a step forward to stronger tangible US support for Ukraine’s cause. The Senate and the White House should take note of the rising bipartisan tide.
Leslie Shedd is a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and a former congressional aide, most recently with the US House Foreign Relations Committee.
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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.
The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values, and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia, and Central Asia in the East.
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Image: Ukrainian and US flags are flown along Pennsylvania Avenue leading to the US Capitol ahead of a visit by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. December 21, 2022. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)