WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., aims to push for a vote Wednesday on an aid package for Israel and Ukraine, minus the border security provisions that had been a part of the original bipartisan bill. This decision came after Republicans made it clear that they would block the entire border security and foreign aid bill. If the motion receives at least 60 votes, it will set the stage for a later vote on the revised foreign aid package, which includes assistance to the warring countries and Taiwan.
The Senate is expected to vote on whether to proceed with the narrower aid package shortly after the first procedural vote on the broader border and aid bill Wednesday afternoon. This decision was confirmed by a Senate aide. While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed support for the supplemental aid bill without the border provisions, he also emphasized the importance of other parts of the bill, such as the provisions targeting fentanyl trafficking.
Less than 48 hours after the text of the bipartisan border security bill was released, Republican senators made it clear that the legislation had no viable pathway to passage, leading to the decision to push for a vote on the revised foreign aid package. This move was met with opposition from former President Donald Trump, who criticized the bipartisan border security package, while House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also voiced his opposition, calling the bill “dead on arrival” if it reached the House.
In a separate development, the House rejected a standalone bill to provide aid to Israel on Tuesday amid congressional infighting over the Senate border bill. The decision by the House fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the Israel aid bill under an expedited process. This rejection came as a response to the Senate reaching its immigration deal.
The House bill included $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel, as well as important funding for U.S. forces in the region, and it lacked spending offsets that the Democrats had objected to in previous legislation. However, Democrats rejected it as a political ploy to capitalize on the GOP’s rejection of the Senate immigration deal.