Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked further debate on a $100 billion-plus proposal to aid Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — which also includes border funding — citing its lack of stricter border policy changes.
The mostly party-line 49-51 vote did not reach the 60-vote threshold to continue debate on the bill. The Senate GOP for weeks threatened to stop it from advancing absent an agreement to add more conservative border policy changes. But those border talks, which recently stalled, are still significantly short of a deal.
Congressional leaders signaled they aren’t giving up on passing more aid money, but it’s tough to see a path forward since Republicans have said they won’t clear it without significant border policy adjustments.
“You’re not going to find something that gets every Democrat or Republican,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said Wednesday morning. “But we need to find something that gets hopefully the majority of both.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer Wednesday morning tried to barter with Republicans, suggesting they could offer a border amendment to the supplemental package before its final vote, an offer he made publicly on Tuesday that was quickly panned by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Schumer said Democrats would “not interfere with the construction of that amendment” and that there would be no conditions — but it would have to pass at a 60-vote threshold.
“It’s they who have injected border into the Ukraine issue, even though the two are unrelated. And now they’re getting a golden opportunity to offer border at 60 votes,” Schumer said. “If that is not good enough for them, then what are they doing?”
McConnell made clear that wouldn’t fly with Republicans and they still planned to block the supplemental spending bill.
“I’ve spent months highlighting the undeniable links between the threats we face in Europe, in the Middle East, and in the Indo-Pacific,” McConnell said on the floor Wednesday morning. “But Democratic leadership appears to be telling us today that they’re willing to risk each of these urgent priorities to avoid fixing our own borders right here at home.”
Speaker Mike Johnson has backed tying support for the the supplemental to border policy changes as well, especially given conservative opposition to sending more money to Ukraine could tank any bill in the House otherwise. That’s bolstered some Senate Republicans who’ve framed this as a must-have.
“We believe that securing our own homeland, protecting American citizens should take precedence,” said Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
The Senate is slated to head out of town Thursday and only has one more week of session scheduled until the new year. Senate Democratic leadership had hoped to pass the supplemental package before the holiday break.
At this point, that timeline is looking increasingly unlikely. While the White House has struck an especially urgent tone for Ukraine cash, saying it’s imperative if Ukraine is going to keep countering Russia, it’s not clear when, exactly, that funding would run out.
The U.S. has $4.66 billion left in presidential drawdown authority for Ukraine, which is how America transfers weapons directly to the battlefield. And there is also $1.1 billion in existing resources available to backfill U.S. stocks.
“We may reach a point where we cannot sustain the current level of security assistance support to Ukraine but until we get to that point, if ever, our spending decisions are informed by multiple factors, including Ukraine’s immediate needs, equipment availability, and our capacity to replenish resources, ensuring that our aid is both strategic and sustainable,” said DOD spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz.
Lara Seligman contributed to this report.
