(Bloomberg Government) -- The US House defeated conservative Republicans’ efforts to cut off security assistance to Ukraine, cementing a wall of support across both political parties for that country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

A group of far-right Republicans insisted on considering a slew of amendments that would have banned any security assistance to Ukraine, eliminated $300 million in the annual defense policy bill for training and equipping Ukrainian soldiers, and conditioned any aid to Ukraine on a report detailing the strategy for US involvement.

Those charges were led by GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Michael Cloud (Texas), and Warren Davidson (Ohio). Greene, Gaetz, and Thomas Massie (Ky.) also offered an amendment that would have banned the transfer of cluster munitions to Ukraine, just days after the Biden administration announced the decision to send those weapons to Ukraine.

The $886 billion defense authorization bill, H.R. 2670, is considered a must-pass measure because it authorizes military and civilian pay raises and sets weapons and geostrategic policies. The annual legislation has become law every year for more than 60 years.

The votes on the Ukraine amendments became a test for congressional support for Ukraine as isolationist members of the GOP ratcheted up calls to reduce or end aid to Kyiv. The divisions within the Republican party deepened at a pivotal time in the war, with Ukraine in the middle of a counteroffensive and President Joe Biden appealing to NATO allies this week to keep up their Ukraine assistance.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who only has a slim majority, is in a tough position. To mollify the conservative wing of his party, he’s said he opposed additional aid to Ukraine beyond a debt-limit deal earlier this year that also set the framework for government spending levels.

Pressure on McCarthy

McCarthy has also shut down suggestions recently that Congress would approve supplemental spending for Ukraine and other unmet defense needs as a result of the debt deal. The Pentagon and the Biden administration have assisted Ukraine through emergency supplemental funding and are expecting to do the same for fiscal 2024 because of the difficulty of predicting funding needs for the war ahead of time.

See also: Defense Hawks Eye Emergency Funds to Exceed Caps in Debt Deal

McCarthy will face pressure from veteran Republican lawmakers, including the chairmen of the defense committees, to bring up a supplemental. The Democratic-led US Senate has wide support for an emergency spending measure. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell predicted US funding to support Ukraine’s military will continue to flow despite the calls from isolationist members of his own party to reduce or end such aid.

“We have enough support within Congress to sustain this for a good deal longer,” McConnell said in an interview with Bloomberg News earlier this year. “All the leadership in the House and Senate in my party is very much in favor of defeating the Russians.”

The Kentucky Republican, who has negotiated more than $100 billion in US assistance for the war effort, also called on Biden to accelerate shipments of high-tech weaponry to Ukraine to help seize back territory taken by Russia.

Three-quarters of Americans say it is important for the US that Ukraine wins the war against Russian invaders, and a strong majority support sending security aid to Ukraine, according to a poll by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. The support is solid among Democrats, at 86%, and Republicans, at 71%, with independents lagging at 58%.

On security assistance, 59% of Americans polled say they support sending military aid to Ukraine, including three-quarters of Democrats and half of Republicans. Independents were again significantly less likely to support Ukraine aid, split between 39% in favor and 39% opposed. But support for Ukraine aid overall hasn’t wavered since a Reagan National Defense Survey last November, which found 57% of Americans supported aid.

—With assistance from Steven T. Dennis (Bloomberg News) in Washington

To contact the reporter on this story: Roxana Tiron in Washington at rtiron@bgov.com

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Robin Meszoly at rmeszoly@bgov.com; Anna Yukhananov at ayukhananov@bloombergindustry.com

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