1 of 3 | The modified emergency defense spending bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., passed 67-32, with 17 Republicans joining with Democrats. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI |
License Photo
Feb. 9 (UPI) -- The Senate on Thursday preliminarily approved a $95 billion foreign aid bill that allocates $60 billion to help Ukraine fight Russia but leaves out any provisions to address the escalating crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The modified emergency defense spending bill, sponsored by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., passed 67-32, with 17 Republicans joining with Democrats, including Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Whip Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.
The latest Senate bill includes money for Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific security and global humanitarian assistance.
The deal includes $19.85 billion to replenish U.S. weapons and equipment to Ukraine, $13.8 billion to assist Ukraine in purchasing weapons from U.S. manufacturers, and $14.8 billion in support to help with training and intelligence gathering.
The legislation breathed new life into congressional efforts to support Ukraine after billions in previous war funding dried up as House Republicans initially sought to link foreign aid to contentious measures aimed at securing the porous southern border.
The bill was approved one day after the Senate rejected a nearly identical Republican proposal which included bipartisan border security reforms that drew fierce criticism from former President Donald Trump, who is seeking re-election in 2024.
After the first vote failed on Tuesday, a frustrated McConnell proposed separating foreign aid from the border security.
"There are other parts of this supplemental that are extremely important as well: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan," McConnell said, according to The Hill. "We still in my view ought to tackle the rest of it because it's important, not that the border isn't important, but we can't get an outcome. So that's where I think we ought to head."
Then on Wednesday morning, Schumer said he would call a vote on the same package, but this time without the border reforms, while he criticized Republicans for backing away from an earlier pledge to immediately seal the border and provide vital aid to Ukraine after 24 months of war.
"First Republicans said they would only do Ukraine and Israel, humanitarian aid with border. Then they said they would not do it with border. Well, we're going to give them both options. We'll take either one. We just hope they can come to 'yes' on something," Schumer said ahead of the vote.
The bill was postponed an extra day as a bloc of GOP senators put pressure on Schumer to bake in several border amendments, but the majority leader proceeded with the vote on Thursday, even as the House remained locked in a separate but similar budget standoff that spelled uncertainty for the bill there.
Earlier this week, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., indicated he would not put Ukraine aid up for a vote in the House unless the funding bill included viable provisions to strengthen the Southern U.S. border.
Several votes remain over the next few days to get the $95 billion spending bill across the finish line in the Senate, including procedural motions and amendment votes.
In the first round of voting, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., voted against the measure, while Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., vowed to delay the upcoming voting process as much as he could.
"I'll object to anything speeding up this rotten foreign spending bill's passage," he posted on the social media platform X.
"It's a terrible idea to put forward and pass a bill that tries to secure other countries' borders before we secure our own. We need to address our problems here at home in a REAL way."
Meanwhile, Kyiv was struggling to hold ground in the nearly two-year conflict as weapons, supplies and ammunition were running low as Russia has ramped up attacks in recent weeks with military aid from Iran and North Korea.
