The new US arms aid package enriches the country's arms industry

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson's the proposal for a new arms aid package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is exactly the same $95,3 billion that the US Senate already approved by a vote in February. In terms of content, the presentation as a new package does not essentially differ from the previous one, except for some details.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly emphasized that the majority of the 61 billion dollars earmarked for Ukraine's military support will remain in the United States and, above all, in the country's arms industry, which manufactures new armaments for Ukraine with a deal worth billions. Biden has also justified the approval of the arms aid package by "supporting employment".

Originally, Speaker Johnson also called for significant legislative changes as part of the aid package to stop the large flow of migrants from Mexico to the United States by changing legislation. The speaker previously stated that the changes must be made simultaneously with military support for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Or else the arms aid package cannot be accepted at all.

However, in the new bill that will be voted on by the House of Representatives on Saturday, the issue of immigration is largely left aside. At the same time, Johnson, who turned his coat around, has come under severe criticism in his own group.

The main difference to the arms aid package approved by the Senate more than two months ago is related to the proposal to grant new military aid to Ukraine now partly as a loan, the size of which, however, remains only 9,5 billion dollars of the total amount.

In the new proposal, the bill on military support divides the arms aid package into four different parts, each of which is also voted on separately. Ukraine's military support is one entity, Israel's another and Taiwan's third.

In addition, a fourth package is coming to the vote, which includes some things considered important by the Republicans, such as the attempt to completely ban Tik Tok in the United States, the introduction of new sanctions against Iran, and the sale of frozen Russian funds to finance Ukraine's arms purchases.

For the new package to enter into force, it must also be approved unchanged in the Senate. After that, President Biden can sign the bill. Biden has strongly supported the speaker's arms aid package and announced that he would sign the law immediately after its passage.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Thursday that the new arms aid package for Ukraine will in no way affect the situation on the front, which "according to all experts is now very unfavorable" for Ukraine. Peskov characterized the new arms aid package as an instrument of "colonial politics" that only enriches the United States and its arms industry.

What the gun aid package contains

It is a matter of gigantic support, first of all, for Ukraine, whose military support has been allocated in the package to a total of almost 61 billion dollars. That is, the same amount that the Senate approved in its own arms aid package already in February, but which the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives has not been ready to put to a vote as it is.

According to the new bill, the purpose is to immediately grant almost 14 billion dollars as "emergency aid" to Ukraine to "ease the current situation" in the current budget year.

In the United States, the budget year ends already on September 30, 2024. By then, the Pentagon, the US Department of Defense, must sign new arms manufacturing contracts with the US arms industry to support Ukraine.

In the new arms aid package, $23,2 billion of the funds will be used to replenish the US's own arms stockpiles with new weapons production, as the massive arms aid given to Ukraine has depleted the arms stocks considerably.

During the last six months, when new arms aid to Ukraine has been almost at a standstill, the United States has transferred large quantities of weapons, weapon systems and ammunition to Israel, which is bombing Gaza. Thanks to the new appropriations, the United States is now able to start transferring weapons and ammunition from its half-empty stockpiles to Ukraine again.

The bill also gives the green light for handing over long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. The decision-making power on the "convenient time" to hand over the missiles rests with President Biden. According to the bill, the missiles will be handed over to Ukraine because "the United States will help Ukraine defend itself and achieve victory over Russia."

If he wishes, according to the bill, Biden can also not transfer missiles to Ukraine if their transfer would conflict with US national security interests.

Part of the support is given as a loan

Part of the allocation is now going to be given to Ukraine in the form of a loan. The Biden administration was first critical of the project, which was first presented by the country's former president Donald Trump. Now, the Biden administration has also announced that it will accept loan support, which however will only be 9,5 billion dollars.

The US administration has 60 days after the approval of the bill to agree on the loan arrangements, which also include the repayment periods of the subsidy. However, the President of the United States is given the right to propose after more than a year that the loan does not have to be repaid at all. The same can later be done for the rest of the loan. However, the decision to accept the proposal remains with the US Congress.

According to the bill, the US State Department and the Pentagon must also submit a detailed report to key congressional committees within 45 days on what the US strategy is in supporting Ukraine and how the goals in implementing the strategy are going to be achieved.

The Republicans have criticized the Biden administration for the fact that the grounds for the military support given to Ukraine in the past have remained obscure and now they want to fix the matter.

And already within 30 days, the Biden administration must report to Congress on all military support given to Ukraine after February 2022, 24 and its funding.

As much as 26,4 billion dollars in new military support will be granted to Israel in the arms aid package. Four billion dollars of the support is to be used to supplement Israel's missile defense. The amount is exactly the same as in the Senate's package. The plight of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is also planned to be supported with humanitarian aid, but the aid will remain quite modest in relation to the need.

For "countermeasures" against China in the "Indo-Pacific sea area", 8,1 billion dollars are planned to be used as military support. The term "Indo-Pacific" refers to the sea areas around the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and Indonesia. Taiwan is getting the lion's share, or a quarter of the whole package.

Some Republicans threaten to overthrow the Speaker - some Democrats do not accept supporting Israel

Some of the Republican members of the House of Representatives have announced that they will vote against the approval of the arms aid package for Ukraine in protest of the speaker's turn. A few representatives have also threatened to question Johnson's continuation as speaker if he allows the arms aid package to pass. On the other hand, some Democratic representatives have promised the speaker support so that he could maintain his position.

According to an opinion poll commissioned by CBS News published on Sunday, the majority of Republican voters, or 61 percent, are against new military aid to Ukraine. On the other hand, 74 percent of Democratic voters support the continuation of military support for Ukraine.

Within the Democrats, there has been a cross-behavior about military support for Israel, as at the beginning of April, forty Democratic members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to President Biden in which they announced their opposition to the delivery of offensive weapons to Israel. The reason was Israel's deadly attacks on aid transports.

The Democratic representatives' petition to Biden has been seen as a bad setback for the US president's pro-Israel policy.

One of the reasons that the packages are voted on separately has been speculated to be the desire of the Republicans to show that some Democrats do not approve of supporting Israel with a new arms aid package. An influential Republican senator JD Vance criticized the large military support of Ukraine a few days ago and considered it out of step with the support of Israel, the closest US ally.