The rules-based international order just got some much-needed breathing room

 The House just passed an aid package that accomplishes the following:

The House passed the Israel Security Supplemental with a vote of 366-58.

Here's what the package includes:

• $26.4 billion to aid Israel
• $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems
• $1.2 billion for the Iron Beam defense system
• $4.4 billion to replenish defense items and services provided to Israel 
• $3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems and other items through the Foreign Military Financing Program
• $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance – including emergency food, shelter and basic services – to populations suffering crises

It would also:

• Provide additional flexibility for transfers of defense items to Israel from US stockpiles held in other countries 
• Prohibit sending funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency

and 

The House passed the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act with a vote of 311-112. One member – GOP Rep Dan Meuser – voted present.  

Democrats cheered and waved Ukrainian flags during the vote.

The $95 billion package contains $61 billion for Ukraine and regional partners.

One of the bills would provide nearly $61 billion to assist Ukraine and others in the region fight Russia – about the same that was included in the Senate bill.

Of that total, about $23 billion would be used to replenish US weapons, stockpiles and facilities, and more than $11 billion would fund current US military operations in the region. 

Nearly $14 billion included in the bill would help Ukraine buy advanced weapons systems and other defense equipment. 

and

The House passed the Indo-Pacific Security Supplemental bill with a bipartisan vote of 385-34 plus one present vote: Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib. 

Here's what the package includes:

• $8.1 billion to counter China’s actions in the Indo-Pacific region
• $3.3 billion to develop submarine infrastructure
• $2 billion in foreign military financing for Taiwan and other key allies
• $1.9 billion to replenish defense items and services provided to Taiwan and regional partners

I hope that my feelings about Mike Johnson reflect that balance and nuance one ought to bring to historic moments where courage was the essential ingredient for insuring that the right thing was done. Yes, I have problems with his young-earth creationism and his election denialism. (I don't have any problems with his understanding of humans sexuality, an understanding most of humankind had until five minutes ago.) He's yet another Republican who has made the trek from a 2015 position of Trump lacking "the character and the moral center we desperately need again in the White House" to serving as a member of the Very Stable Genius's legal defense team during both impeachments.

But what he's done here - breaking with those in a position to imperil his Speakership, pressing ahead in the most precarious of circumstances - is the act of a man who mustered utter clarity about what the moment required of him.

This disseminates a couple of important messages on the world stage, to allies and enemies alike. First and foremost, it says that the United States - for the time being, anyway - is still willing to be the guarantor of a post-1945 order predicated on the idea that force can't be used to change the borders of sovereign nations. It also gives a strong indication that the legislative branch can still act decisively and morally, even when the executive branch's vision of the world stage is muddled.

So, kudos to those who voted in the affirmative on these measures.

The darkness still hasn't overcome the light.