Dems push separate aid bill as GOP kills border package
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a bill to pair tens of billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine and Israel with stringent border security measures, thwarting a compromise they had demanded in the latest setback to the emergency national security spending package.
But Democrats quickly moved to salvage the aid, with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, pivoting to advance a stand-alone foreign aid bill stripped of the immigration deal. A vote on that alternative was expected later Wednesday.
“Republicans have said they can’t pass Ukraine without border. Now they say they can’t pass Ukraine with border. Today, I’m giving them a choice,” Schumer said on the Senate floor before the votes. “I urge Republicans to take yes for an answer.” Earlier in the day, he expressed confidence that the national security package, detached from the border provisions, would have enough support to advance.
That would take 60 votes, which would require the support of at least 10 Republicans, a level that members of both parties privately said they believed was achievable. But Republicans were delaying the action as they regrouped to figure out how to move forward. Some of them, including Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said they wanted more clarity about whether they would be able to propose changes to the aid package before agreeing to move forward.
Doing so would clear a major hurdle to the bill, putting it on a path to passing the Senate. But it would still face stiff headwinds in the House, where right-wing lawmakers are vehemently opposed to sending additional assistance to Ukraine. Here’s what else to know:
› The border deal, which hemorrhaged Republican support after former President Donald Trump vocally opposed it, fell Wednesday when it failed to muster the 60 votes necessary to move forward. The vote was 50-49, with 44 Republicans, four Democrats and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders voting “no.” Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader who had encouraged the border deal negotiations but said it had become politically untenable, was among the opponents.
› Only four Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah and James Lankford of Oklahoma — voted with Democrats to advance the bill. Four Democrats also crossed party lines on the bill, opposing it: Sens. Alex Padilla of California, Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, both of Massachusetts. Schumer also voted “no” in a procedural move to allow him to move quickly to reconsider it on the aid-only bill.
› The foreign aid bill includes $60.1 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid for civilians of global crises, including Palestinians and Ukrainians.