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Capitol Hill is abuzz with the Senate’s progress on the anticipated passage of a standalone $95 billion aid bundle for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific with out border safety measures.
After overcoming the primary procedural hurdle Thursday, the present panorama is fluid, because the higher chamber now gears up for what guarantees to be a protracted debate with potential weekend classes and in a single day votes looming.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s transfer to file extra cloture votes units the stage for a probably drawn-out course of, with the Senate sure by procedural guidelines dictating the timing of the vote, which may occur anytime between Friday night and Tuesday, Senate aides informed Fox News Digital.
“Now that we are on the bill, we hope to reach an agreement with our Republican colleagues on amendments,” Schumer stated after the vote. “For the information of senators, we are going to keep working on this bill until the job is done.”
(L-R) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N,Y., on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Dec. 12, 2023. (Getty Images)
The $95 billion bundle superior in a 67-32 cloture vote Wednesday, also called a movement to restrict debate on a invoice, and moved to a last vote. It required a three-fifths majority.
The bundle contains $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian help for Gaza and almost $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific. Democrats introduced the bundle up for a vote after Republicans had blocked the $118 billion bundle that additionally included quite a few border and immigration provisions Wednesday.
Republicans had beforehand stated they might not approve funding for Ukraine except the overwhelmed southern border was secured first.
Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico with the U.S.-Mexico border barrier in the background Aug. 6, 2022, in Yuma, Ariz. (Qian Weizhong/VCG by way of Getty Images)
Now, senators await a further cloture vote earlier than they will enter a interval of debate and the chance so as to add amendments over the subsequent few days, and Republicans are positive to convey forth border security-associated proposals.
Sen. Krysten Sinema, I-Ariz., one of many key negotiators for the failed border invoice that took months to craft, sparred with Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on the ground Thursday afternoon, Graham dubbing the border invoice a “half a–ed effort” he could not solid a vote for.
SENATE RELEASES LONG-AWAITED BORDER LEGISLATION, MAJOR ASYLUM CHANGES
“We have not really tried hard to secure the border. We took a well-meaning product. People worked really hard,” Graham, a staunch Ukraine funding supporter, stated on the ground. “I applaud you and others for coming out with a product that I thought had a lot of good things in it, but not enough for me.”
Sinema stated she appears to be like “forward to debating and possibly even supporting one or more of his amendments.” But amendments and debate are halted till the subsequent procedural vote, which might open the door for contemplating extra amendments.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema speaks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol Dec. 20, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker)
“However, it could be more difficult to consider some of those border-related amendments since the package now does not include any of the border language that we carefully negotiated over the last 4½ months,” Sinema stated.
Graham and GOP senators Pete Ricketts, Tommy Tuberville, Rick Scott, Mike Lee, Katie Britt, John Barrasso, Josh Hawley, Rand Paul, Roger Marshall and Jim Risch have been among the many dissenting votes of the standalone invoice. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who negotiated the border provisions that didn’t move the Senate on Wednesday, additionally voted no.
Seventeen Republicans, together with Minority Whip John Thune and senators Chuck Grassley, Roger Wicker, John Kennedy, Mitt Romney and Mike Rounds, voted to advance the invoice.
Republican minority chief Mitch McConnell backed funding for Ukraine and voted to advance the invoice however drew criticism from celebration members who urged lawmakers to not move international aid with out securing the border first.
However, the highway to a last vote seems winding, with expectations rife for extended discussions and procedural intricacies delaying a definitive resolution.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, a rabid Kansas City Chiefs fan, even joked on X that he is ready for votes to pull out till Super Bowl Sunday.
SENATE TANKS IMMIGRATION, FOREIGN AID SPENDING PACKAGE AFTER GOP BACKLASH AGAINST BORDER PROVISIONS
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., appeared decided to make that occur.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., stands alongside fellow Republican senators at a press convention addressing the nationwide debt Jan. 25, 2023. (Fox Business)
“It’s not going to be easy,” Paul informed reporters. “I plan on making them stay here through the weekend, and they’ll get their votes. And they’ll finish up when hell freezes over as far as I’m concerned.
“By the time the weekend’s over, I hope each American in the nation will know that the individuals who voted for this voted to safe the Ukrainian border earlier than we safe the southern border.”
He added he may also ask that the clerk read the Ukraine-Israel bill aloud.
Rand contended that even if Schumer selects a handful of amendments to bring to the floor, “none” will pass.
“The Democrats will vote in block towards each modification,” he said.
Against this backdrop, the Senate braces for a marathon of debates, the possibility of amendment votes and the looming specter of prolonged deliberations that could spill into late next week.
On Tuesday, Republicans in the lower chamber instead attempted to pass a standalone bill providing aid only to Israel. It failed after 14 Republicans and 166 Democrats voted against it.
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