Bennet says House might be ‘putting division behind us’ after foreign aid bill

Correction: This story was updated to reflect that Michael Bennett is a Senator.

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) on Sunday expressed optimism that the House could move past its policy divisions following the chamber’s bipartisan support for a long-sought foreign aid bill this weekend.

“This week, to see the House of Representatives finally pass, not just Israel aid with over 300 votes, but aid to Ukraine with more than 300 votes,” Bennett said Sunday in an interview on NewsNation’s “The Hill Sunday.” “You know, I feel like maybe we’re at a moment where we’re putting the division behind us and we’re reasserting again, the role of American democracy in the world, and it can’t come soon enough.”

The package — passed in four separate votes Saturday — includes about $61 billion for Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel and global humanitarian aid, $8 billion for allies in the Indo-Pacific and a package of other national security measures, including a potential ban on the TikTok app.

It follows months of stalemate amid sharp divisions between lawmakers over where and how U.S. funding is allocated.

Bennet said he is hopeful the passage marks the end of the divisions that have held up various pieces of legislation from making their way through both chambers.

“These divisions have been killing us, and they’ve been counterproductive to our role in the world. I hope we are going to start putting that behind us and begin to stand up again for the position that no one, no other country in the world can take, but ours,” he said.

Earlier on “The Hill Sunday,” Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.) echoed this optimism, suggesting the passage of the foreign aid bill could fare well for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who is facing an ouster threat from at least three members of his GOP conference.

“But I thought that … Saturday was a good day. Especially with respect to Speaker Johnson working with Democratic leader [Rep.] Hakeem Jeffries [D-N.Y.]. The week before that, you had [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act], which was another bipartisan piece of legislation that was extremely important to get done.”

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.

This story was updated at 5:55 p.m. on April 22.