WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 24: Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) speaks at a press conference with other members of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus on the third anniversary of Russia - Ukraine war, in Washington, DC on February 24, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Anadolu via Getty Images

Ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump campaigned on a range of issues, such as border security, immigration, and the economy. He also discussed foreign policy issues, such as Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. On this topic, he argued that the United States was providing too much aid to Ukraine. Additionally, he stated that if elected president, he would end the war in Ukraine.

Following the November 2024 election and Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, the newly elected president sought to deliver on this campaign promise. Starting in February 2025, senior officials from the Trump Administration began to meet with their Russian and Ukrainian counterparts to discuss how the war could end. Since then, several rounds of negotiations have been held in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Several ceasefire attempts were also made, and Trump has regularly spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the war since February 2025. Despite these efforts by Trump and senior officials from his administration, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues.

While the U.S. proceeds with peace talks with Russia and Ukraine on how to end the war, the Trump Administration has taken a new approach to U.S. foreign assistance to Ukraine. In March 2025, Trump asked the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of State to stop sending defense aid and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Then, in July 2025, Trump established a defense cooperation initiative with NATO member states, where U.S. weapons for Ukraine would be sold to America’s NATO allies in Europe. The U.S. weapons purchased by these NATO members would then be sent to Ukraine.

The Kiel Institute for the World Economy then investigated these U.S. policy changes on Ukraine. In its February report, the Kiel Institute found that U.S. defense aid to Ukraine had fallen by 99% in 2025. As a result, European countries have taken the initiative to try to offset the decline in defense aid to Ukraine.

Democrats and Republicans in Congress have also started to put pressure on the Trump Administration given its policy change on Ukraine. Earlier this year, Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, who chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and Roger Wicker, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, urged the U.S. to provide additional assistance to Ukraine. Then, on April 28, McConnell authored an op-ed in The Washington Post calling on the Pentagon to release $400 million in aid to Ukraine that had been previously authorized by Congress. In response, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth announced that the $400 million in aid to Ukraine had been released.

Members of the House of Representatives have also taken their own steps to force a discussion on U.S. aid to Ukraine in Congress. On July 17, 2025, Democratic Representative Gregory W. Meeks from New York introduced a discharge petition to authorize additional aid for Ukraine and to impose new sanctions on Russia. Meeks, who is the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated that “Congress must take action by supporting Ukraine to put it in the strongest possible negotiating position and cracking down on Russia’s ability to fund its war.”

Discharge petitions, a legislative procedure that requires 218 out of 435 members of the House of Representatives to sign it, allow congressional representatives to vote on a piece of legislation “that has been referred to committee but not reported.” Should a petition reach the necessary 218 signatures (which is a simple majority of the House), the legislation can be presented to the House floor for a vote. Discharge petitions are uncommon, and in many cases, unsuccessful.

This is not the first time a discharge petition on Ukraine aid has been introduced in the House. From October 2023 to April 2024, the House of Representatives debated a new assistance package proposed by then-President Joe Biden. During that period, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said that he did not want to “feel rushed” on making a decision on the new aid package. As a result, two discharge petitions were introduced by Democratic and Republican members of the House. While neither cleared the necessary 218 signatures, Johnson eventually held a vote on foreign aid to Ukraine in April 2024, which was passed with bipartisan support (the foreign assistance package also included aid to Israel and Taiwan).

But since the introduction of Representative Meeks’ discharge petition on Ukraine aid in July 2025, 217 members of the House of Representatives have signed the motion. Newly elected Democratic Representative Analilia Mejia from New Jersey became the latest House member to sign the discharge petition, adding her signature on April 29. Additionally, Republican Representatives Don Bacon of Nebraska and Brian K. Fitzpatrick have also signed the motion. This means that only one additional signature is needed for the bipartisan discharge petition to bring a new Ukraine aid bill to the House floor.

This bipartisan support in the House is also in line with U.S. public opinion polling. According to independent surveys conducted and published by the Economist/YouGov and the Pew Research Center in April, a majority of Americans support providing assistance to Ukraine. Both surveys also found that many Democrats, Independents, and Republicans support Ukraine, suggesting that, like in Congress, Ukraine remains a bipartisan issue for the American public.

Now, as the discharge petition on additional assistance to Ukraine nears its final signature to reach the required 218 threshold, supporters of Ukraine will be curious to see whether the House will indeed reach a vote on future U.S. aid to Ukraine. The outcome of these decisions will play an important role in U.S. support to Ukraine, as well as Ukraine’s ability to continue defending itself against Russia’s ongoing invasion.