Senate fails to advance Ukraine and Israel package over border deal disputes
The Senate voted against Chuck Schumer (D-NY’s) request of $111 billion for foreign spending, amid a standoff about a border agreement that is crucial for the bill’s passing.
The White House requested 60 votes to approve the package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. However, the vote was only 49-51.
Schumer called the procedural voting after both sides of the border negotiations blamed each other for the deadlock.
Schumer, after the vote’s failure, said: “Tonight is an unfortunate night in the history and of our country.” He urged his GOP colleagues to “get serious.”
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The GOP leadership has whipped its members into opposing the Foreign Aid Package without a border agreement.
Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader (R-KY), said that late on Tuesday, “I am advocating, and I hope all our members vote against the motion to move to the shell bill to make it clear, hopefully for the last time, that we demand meaningful changes at the border.”
Schumer, for his part, warned that “it would not be a bipartisan defeat” if the vote on cloture failed.
The Senate’s top Democrat stated that “it will be a failure caused solely by the Republican Party, and their leadership. They were pushed by those on the Hard Right who want Ukraine to fail to make border [aid] a condition to support Ukraine.”
After the October 7 Hamas attacks, Joe Biden linked Ukraine aid with Israel funding to convince Republicans that Ukraine aid was worth it. Republicans then linked Ukraine aid with border security reforms.
Biden said on Friday that “This can’t wait.” “Congress must pass additional funding for Ukraine before the break for holidays. That’s all there is to it. “I find it amazing that we have reached this point.”
The border negotiations have been going on for more than a month without any progress. They have been centered around possible changes in federal asylum policy, and the way the Biden administration utilizes the humanitarian parole authority.
Democrats accuse Republicans of unreasonable demands that wouldn’t have a majority in the Democratic Conference. The GOP claims that Democrats will not compromise on solutions to reduce illegal border crossings.
It took 60 votes for the package to be brought to the floor. However, it only needs a simple majority to pass. Democrats have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, which means they will need nine Republicans and full party support to invoke cloture.
McConnell and Schumer have always supported the same effort to combine Israel’s and Ukraine’s aid. Both have backed border security as a way to get the bill passed by both chambers. Taiwan assistance was also included to broaden the support for this bill.
The Washington Examiner reported that the failure of cloture on Wednesday does not mean Biden’s funding request has been abandoned, as Senator Chris Coons (D–DE) said before the vote.
“This is the moment when each caucus sends a message to the other. Coons stated that many Republicans had told him, “We need a field vote to show we are serious about our demand for a change in the border policy.” Coons said that the failure of this vote would send a serious message to Ukraine, China, Hamas and many others, including Iran, that we were not progressing as we should in providing support for our allies and partners.
Ben Cardin, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (D-MD), predicted that the final defense package will be completed. He told reporters that Democrats would “continue to pursue this” until they get their supplemental.
McConnell has met privately with his allies in order to discuss alternative strategies. A source familiar with the Washington Examiner confirms this.
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