The Senate moved Thursday to revive a sweeping emergency aid bill for Ukraine and Israel that had stalled again on Capitol Hill. Senators began a critical vote to advance the bill while Republicans argued over whether to help keep it alive.
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and Majority Leader, advanced the next procedural step to pass the bill, which includes $60.1 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid would provide assistance to civilians in global conflicts. He did so despite the uncertainty plaguing the Republican Congress, where many senators who voted Wednesday to block a version of the measure that included border restrictions still withheld their support.
Many demanded the ability to propose changes, including imposing border restrictions, just hours after blocking legislation that would provide a bipartisan package of border restrictions. But after Republicans gathered behind closed doors at the Capitol on Thursday morning, it was still unclear whether they would be able to resolve their differences.
The bill needs 60 votes to advance, which would require support from at least 10 Republicans — and even if they pass, additional procedural hurdles remain. Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, and John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, cast early votes to pass the bill in a sign that leaders expected the measure to move forward.
The standoff over the foreign aid bill was the latest expression of the discord that has roiled Republicans and stalled efforts to pass national security spending bills. Republicans have been at odds over how to handle international crises without angering their party’s leader and its likely presidential nominee, former President Donald J. Trump.
Senate Republicans had initially signaled early Wednesday that they would likely support moving forward with a clean foreign aid bill without border provisions as long as they had the opportunity to propose changes, terms that Mr. Schumer agreed in principle. Leaders on both sides were optimistic that they had enough support to move the measure forward quickly.
But by evening their optimism had given way to confusion as Republicans fell into familiar mode, torn between rival factions and completely unable to decide how to proceed. They spent much of Wednesday afternoon and evening arguing over which amendments they should insist on — and some quietly argued they shouldn’t allow the bill to move forward at all.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Mr. Schumer sent senators home to “give our Republican colleagues the night to understand themselves,” and vowed to reconvene the Senate at noon on Thursday. But as of Thursday morning, Republican senators still had not agreed on how to proceed – and it was unclear whether they would be able to resolve their differences soon.
Republican senators are divided. Some strongly support providing new military aid to help Ukraine fend off a Russian invasion, while right-wing senators strongly oppose it. And some Republican senators who support the aid still worry that doing so without demanding a price from Democrats would put them at political risk in an election year, given Mr. Trump’s opposition to supporting the war effort Ukraine.
Some Republican senators are likely to support the bill regardless of whether it is amended locally, as long as they have the opportunity to have the Senate vote on some proposed changes. Eight Republicans — Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader; Susan Collins of Maine; John Kennedy of Louisiana; Jerry Moran of Kansas; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; Mitt Romney of Utah; Thom Tillis of North Carolina; and Todd Young of Indiana — already voted Wednesday to advance the measure past a hurdle in the opening process. Some said they wanted to continue supporting the bill.
“I will probably be there at the end of the trial,” Mr. Tillis said on Thursday, adding that the Senate owes it to Ukraine — and any other country that still supports its war against Russia — to see the bill through . “It’s exactly what Putin hopes doesn’t come up this week, and I will do everything I can to prevent it.”
But other Republicans who have pushed for aid to Ukraine still refuse to support it. They included Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas and James Lankford of Oklahoma. Mr. Lankford spent the last four months negotiating a bipartisan deal to link Ukraine funding to border security measures, a compromise that Republicans had demanded but that Republicans rejected on Wednesday.
They are expected to be among the senators who will insist on certain amendments as a condition for their support.
“I’m not giving up on the border,” Graham said in an interview, despite voting earlier Wednesday to scrap the Ukraine aid and border deal.
Border-related amendments that Republicans introduced included a measure that mirrored Mr. Lankford’s border agreement and a tougher immigration enforcement law that House Republicans passed last spring.
There were also discussions about an attempt to revoke or change the Flores agreement, which sets limits on how long children can be held in detention centers, according to Senate aides, who described the discussions on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made on it yet whether the proposal should be pursued further.
Some Republican senators emerged from the party’s morning meeting Thursday saying they also wanted amendment votes to change the foreign aid portions of the bill before voicing their support.
“I’m still very focused on limiting the humanitarian component,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan, Republican of Alaska, arguing that European countries could focus on providing economic and humanitarian aid to Ukraine while “we focus on Concentrate weapons and our own industrial base.”
But other Republican senators signaled that there was no amendment agreement sufficient to secure their vote.
“That would be window dressing,” said Senator Mike Braun, Republican of Indiana. “Whenever the other side allows you to introduce amendments, they are never ones that they believe will be adopted.”
Democrats also have a wish list of proposed changes to the measure. Nearly 20 Democratic senators, most of them from the party’s left wing, have signed an amendment that would require security aid recipients to use weapons in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict – and not impede efforts to send humanitarian aid to the civilian population. Although the measure does not specifically mention Israel, it was inspired by senators’ concerns about that country’s bombing of the Gaza Strip, which violates international law.
Whether any of those senators have the opportunity to propose their preferred amendments depends on whether the chamber can move on to the next procedural vote on the bill. And while some Republicans sounded confident they would be able to vote again soon, others opposed to the bill vowed to make the process as long and painful as possible.
“I will insist on this every minute of every day,” said Sen. Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky. “I want to be here for a week because I want to talk about what a disaster the bill is and what a mistake it is to send our money to other countries before we solve our own problems here.”
Carl Hulse contributed reporting.
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2024-02-08 17:47:07
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