The House will now take up the Ukraine legislation next Tuesday evening. Ukraine vote pushed to next week

The Ukraine drama on Capitol Hill isn’t over just yet.

The Republican-led House was set to quickly pass a package of aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia in a brief pro forma session on Friday, which would have sent the measure straight to President Barack Obama for his signature.


But GOP leadership decided to delay the move until next week to allow lawmakers a chance to register a yes or no vote on the legislation, a spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said. If the House had dispensed with the bill on Friday, it would have done so by voice vote.

The House will now take up the Ukraine legislation, which already cleared the Senate, next Tuesday evening, and it is all but certain to pass the chamber. The House’s Ukraine bill, which essentially mirrors the Senate version save a few minor differences, passed on a 399-19 vote on Thursday.

( PHOTOS: American political consultants in Ukraine)

The International Monetary Fund also announced a preliminary agreement Thursday to release as much as $18 billion in loans for Kiev, which Cantor’s office said made it less urgent to pass the Ukraine package this week.

“We welcome Congressional action to finalize an assistance package for Ukraine and look forward to Congress completing its work,” Laura Lucas Magnuson, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, said Friday.

Earlier this week, Senate Democrats dropped a controversial provision involving IMF reforms demanded by the Obama administration that were holding up progress on Ukraine aid. House Republicans and several key Democrats have long urged the administration and Senate Democrats to relent on the IMF provisions, noting that they were controversial among conservatives and would likely not pass the GOP-led House.

( Earlier on POLITICO: IMF announces Ukraine aid package)

The two chambers also will need to pass a separate measure that boosts U.S. international broadcasting into eastern Ukraine and Crimea — a move that is meant to counter Russian propaganda. The Senate unanimously approved the bill Thursday night.

House leaders also caused some consternation among the House rank and file on Thursday when they abruptly cleared by voice vote a so-called doc fix — a measure involving payment for doctors who treat Medicare patients that may not have passed by recorded vote. Moving the Ukraine vote to next week when House lawmakers are back in Washington would help avoid a repeat scenario.