House Democrats scored a rare victory on Wednesday after the chamber voted to advance a security package providing new military aid for Ukraine and imposing steep sanctions on Russia.

The Democrat-sponsored legislation cleared a procedural vote 218-204 with all Democrats present voting in the affirmative. Seven members of the House Republican conference supported the measure in a notable display of defiance against GOP leadership. 

The defecting Republicans included Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Max Miller, R-Ohio, and Joe Wilson, R-S.C. Additionally, Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., an independent who caucuses with Republicans, also voted to advance the bill. 

The security package would reaffirm U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO, authorize more than $1 billion in new military assistance, support Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction, and impose new sanctions on Russia and entities that support its war effort if Moscow continues the war, among other provisions. 

ANOTHER NATO ALLY SIGNS ONTO EUROPEAN NUCLEAR UMBRELLA AS CONTINENT BOOSTS SELF-DEFENSE

The measure now heads for a vote on final passage, where it is expected to pass as soon as Thursday. 

Its fate in the Republican-controlled Senate remains uncertain, where a bipartisan effort to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia has stalled for more than a year despite overwhelming support. Trump is expected to veto the legislation if it reaches his desk.

The vote came after Democrats and a handful of Republicans teamed up to force consideration of the legislation over the objections of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who controls the floor. 

Fitzpatrick, Bacon and Kiley crossed party lines to sign the Democratic-led discharge petition, a legislative maneuver that allows lawmakers to trigger a vote on legislation with majority support.

«This is our opportunity to provide the leverage that could prove decisive in ending this conflict on acceptable terms in a way that will deter future Russian aggression,» Kiley, an independent lawmaker, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

«It’s just inconceivable that we should not be having additional sanctions against working with Putin,» Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who supported the underlying bill’s advancement, told Fox News. «Over and over again, we need to be standing with the courageous people of Ukraine.»

«We need to stop what Putin is doing, which is trying to resurrect the Soviet Union,» he added.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, I-Calif., was the 218th signature on the discharge petition forcing a vote on the Ukraine Support Act. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.)

6 HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEFY TRUMP ON KEY AGENDA ITEM IN DEM-PUSHED VOTE

The measure was vigorously opposed by Republican leadership, who argued the pro-Ukraine measure was poorly drafted and undermined the administration’s efforts to end the years-long conflict, which has been estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands.

The bill calls for NATO countries to increase defense spending to 2% of GDP prior to NATO’s Washington Summit — an event that occurred nearly two years ago in July 2024. Trump also secured a newer commitment from allies in 2025 to hike defense spending to 5% of their economic output over the course of a decade. 

Additionally, the legislation mandates that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a taxpayer-funded outlet, have its funding restored after the Trump administration sought to cut off the outlet’s congressionally approved funding in 2025. Federal courts later ordered the funding restored amid an ongoing legal battle.

The Russia-Ukraine war has continued with no end in sight, despite Trump’s vow to end the conflict upon returning to office.

Proponents of the Ukraine Support Act argue that the legislative branch should pressure the Trump administration to take a harder line against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

«This is the moment for Congress to assert itself,» Kiley told Fox News Digital. «We’re seeing just further brutality on the part of Russia now, and so I think that if Congress gets involved in a meaningful way, it could provide the decisive leverage to finally bring about a resolution.»

The successful discharge petition is the latest instance in which a majority of lawmakers have worked around Johnson’s opposition to put legislation on the floor. 

«Democrats have repeatedly governed in the minority as if we were in the majority, and we’re going to do so again this week,» House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Tuesday, arguing his party is displaying support for «the free world, for democracy, for truth and the Ukrainian people» by forcing a vote on the security package. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks with reporters as he walks to his office after a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 2026. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

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The use of discharge petitions, a rarely used tool historically deployed by the minority, has exploded under Johnson’s leadership.

A coalition of Democrats and a handful of Republicans has used the legislative maneuver to force votes on legislation compelling the release of the Epstein files, extending legal protections to Haitian nationals and overturning a regulation targeting federal employees’ collective bargaining rights.

La crisis política que vive Bolivia amenaza con derivar en un enfrentamiento entre la población de las ciudades y del campo, tras casi un mes de bloqueos de carreteras que afectan la provisión de alimentos, medicamentos y combustibles sobre todo en el área andina y que ya han dejado al menos nueve muertos, en medio de varios episodios en los que la gente ha intentado desbloquear las rutas.

Los analistas Pedro Portugal y Gabriela Canedo advirtieron, en declaraciones a EFE, sobre el riesgo de los choques por una fractura casi atávica por razones étnicas y culturales, pero también por una supuesta inacción ante el conflicto del Gobierno Rodrigo Paz, cuya renuncia piden los sectores movilizados.

«El Gobierno no está haciendo absolutamente nada, es como si estuviese esperando que la población que le apoya se enfrente a los bloqueadores y se resuelva esta cuestión en un enfrentamiento entre civiles, en vez de que sea una intervención estatal», dijo Portugal, especialista en temas indígenas.

En varias regiones hubo incidentes y amagos de enfrentamiento entre pobladores del campo y las zonas urbanas a favor y en contra de los bloqueos, pero los analistas observan en esos episodios indicios de una polarización que puede escalar a choques civiles, como ha ocurrido otras veces en Bolivia.

Portugal consideró importante recordar que Paz llegó al poder con el apoyo de «sectores populares e indígenas» que votaron en sus comunidades por consigna, no tanto por él, sino por su vicepresidente, Edmand Lara, por su «extracción plebeya».

La Federación de Campesinos Tupac Katari reclama a Paz por la supuesta «traición» que supuso haber aprobado primero medidas a favor de empresarios del oriente boliviano, antes de pactar con los sectores de la zona andina que le votaron y también por su distanciamiento de Lara, quien se declaró opositor al Gobierno.

A juicio del analista, la «ruptura» explica los bloqueos de los campesinos, que también tienen como fondo histórico la conflictiva relación de los indígenas con el Estado debido a la persistencia de la pobreza y por su exigencia de ser parte del mismo, «pero no en una posición subordinada, sino protagónica».

Los bloqueos de carreteras son una medida histórica de lucha de esos sectores desde 1781, cuando una rebelión indígena liderada por Tupac Katari castigó a La Paz durante varios meses, impidiendo el paso de alimentos para la población española, criolla y mestiza.

La consecuencia de las protestas actuales son al menos nueve fallecidos, de los que seis son personas que no pudieron recibir atención médica oportuna por los bloqueos, además del desabastecimiento de alimentos y medicamentos.

Para la socióloga Canedo, el conflicto muestra la persistencia del «fantasma del 2019», en alusión a la crisis vivida ese año cuando el entonces presidente Evo Morales (2006-2019) renunció denunciando un supuesto golpe de Estado, ante una ola de protestas sociales por denuncias de un fraude a su favor en las fallidas elecciones generales, luego anuladas.

La crisis provocó 37 muertos, varios de ellos afines a Morales, en lugares como el barrio de Senkata, en el Alto, y la localidad de Sacaba, (centro), en enfrentamientos civiles y tras intervenciones militares.

«Hemos tenido una pausa de seis años y ahora, con el cambio de Gobierno hace seis meses, tenemos nuevamente esto y el fantasma del 2019 y sabemos las consecuencias», apuntó Canedo.

En la actual crisis, agregó, hay una «efervescencia de los discursos racistas» que están detonando las «heridas históricas», pero se trata de un problema estructural que sale a flote provocando más polarización.

«Los problemas pueden ser económico sociales, pero lo que se toca son las identidades étnicas», sostuvo.

Más allá de la discriminación mutua entre habitantes del campo y la ciudad, el contexto muestra una mayoría «que sufre las peores condiciones sociales y económicas» ante «una minoría que sí goza de privilegios», agregó.

A su juicio, si el Estado no equilibra las condiciones de igualdad para sectores vulnerables, existe el riesgo de que la sociedad se dirija a «un ajuste de cuentas» con «resentimiento, revancha y odio».

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill accused ICE on Wednesday of denying her access to Delaney Hall, a Newark immigration detention facility that has become the focus of lawsuits, protests and allegations of unsafe, as scrutiny intensifies over allegations of unsafe conditions inside the center.

«ICE is denying me entry to Delaney Hall — raising serious questions about what is happening behind its walls,» Sherrill wrote on X.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Sherrill’s office to clarify whether she attempted to access the facility Wednesday or was referring to an ongoing dispute over access.

The Democratic governor previously attempted to visit the detention center over Memorial Day weekend but was denied entry, according to local reports.

FOX NEWS GOES INSIDE NEW JERSEY ICE FACILITY STORMED BY DEMOCRATS

Sherrill said she recently met with family members of individuals being held at the facility and heard allegations about unsafe conditions.

«Last night in Jersey City, I met with families whose loved ones are being detained there,» Sherrill wrote. «What I heard only deepened my concerns.»

«Families shared heartbreaking reports of unsafe, inhumane, and unconstitutional conditions — detainees being denied access to proper medical care and medication, violence and intimidation, threats of losing phone and video access, visitation privileges being taken away, and deeply troubling accounts of detainees being pressured to sign deportation papers with no translation,» she continued.

SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said ICE is denying her access to Newark’s Delaney Hall detention center. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital; Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Sherrill said she would continue pushing for accountability and improved conditions at the facility while reiterating her support for ultimately shutting it down.

The governor’s comments came after New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced this week that the state had filed suit against GEO Group Inc., the private company contracted by the Department of Homeland Security to operate the detention center.

The lawsuit seeks access for the New Jersey Department of Health to inspect the facility after state and local officials, including Sherrill, were allegedly denied entry. The filing also references reports that some detainees have launched a hunger strike over conditions inside the center.

INSPECTION OF DELANEY HALL ICE FACILITY CONTRADICTS CLAIMS IN NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL’S LAWSUIT

State police officers arrest a person outside Delaney Hall detention center during a protest against detainee transfers and federal immigration policies in Newark, N.J., on May 29, 2026. (Andres Kudacki/AP)

The Department of Homeland Security dismissed the lawsuit as «frivolous.»

A DHS spokesperson previously told Fox News Digital that detainees are provided three meals a day, clean water, clothing, bedding, showers, soap and other basic necessities.

Sherrill has also faced criticism from Newark officials, activists and law-enforcement supporters over her response to demonstrations outside the facility.

GOV. SHERRILL BLAMES ICE, DEFENDS RIOTERS AFTER DEPLOYING TROOPERS TO QUELL VIOLENT MOB

Protestors gathered outside Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office at the State House in Trenton, N.J., on June 1, 2026, demanding she take action and speak to the group about the Delaney Hall ICE facility. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said Tuesday he disagreed with tactics used by the New Jersey State Police after they were deployed to secure the area around Delaney Hall, describing the agency as «a sword.»

On Saturday, Sherrill defended the deployment, saying the New Jersey State Police Public Safety Response Team was sent to the area because it was «absolutely necessary to protect public safety and avoid escalation.»

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When reached for comment, ICE referred Fox News Digital to the Department of Homeland Security, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.