Aid bill for Ukraine and Israel stalled in Senate as divided GOP demands changes
Senators rushed Thursday to revive a sweeping national security aid bill for Ukraine and Israel, which has once again stalled on Capitol Hill amid Republican opposition.
Republicans who voted to block the measure on Wednesday again withheld their support to move forward with the bill, which includes $60.1 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel and $10 billion in humanitarian aid. They demanded the chance to propose changes including adding border restrictions — just one day after blocking a version of the legislation that included a bipartisan package of border restrictions.
Arguing over what accommodations to seek, Republicans sat behind closed doors at the Capitol Thursday morning to resolve their differences.
Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader, who had scheduled a snap vote on the foreign aid-only measure on Wednesday, said he hoped it could now take place on Thursday afternoon. The bill would need 60 votes to pass, which would require the support of at least 10 Republicans.
The standoff was the latest manifestation of discord that has roiled the Republican Party and stalled efforts to stall national security bills in both chambers of Congress as Republicans clash over how to handle international crises. without angering their party leader and presumptive presidential candidate. former President Donald J. Trump.
Senate Republicans had initially indicated on Wednesday that they would likely favor a clean foreign aid bill without limit provisions as long as they had the ability to propose changes, conditions that Mr. Schumer agreed to in principle. Leaders on both sides were optimistic they would gain enough support to pass the measure quickly.
But by evening, their optimism had given way to confusion, as Republicans found themselves in a familiar position, torn between rival factions and completely unable to make a decision on how to proceed. They spent much of Wednesday afternoon and evening bickering over which amendments to allow — and some privately argued that they should not allow the bill to pass at all.
Shortly after 7 p.m., Mr. Schumer sent senators home to “give our Republican colleagues the night to sort themselves out,” promising to reconvene the Senate at noon on Thursday. But it was unclear whether Republican senators would be able to resolve their differences by then, or soon.
Republican senators are divided, with some firmly in favor of sending a new wave of military aid to help Ukraine fight a Russian invasion, and those on the right deeply opposed to that. And some Republican senators who support the aid are nevertheless concerned that doing so without demanding a price from Democrats would put them at political risk in an election year, given Trump's opposition to supporting Ukraine's war effort .
Several Republican senators who are likely to support the bill regardless of whether they get a chance to amend it came out Wednesday afternoon by supporting a procedural step needed to bring it up. Eight Republicans: Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader; Susan M. 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 — voted to advance the measure past that early hurdle.
But other Republicans who have advocated support for Ukraine have withheld their support. Among them were Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas and James Lankford of Oklahoma. Mr. Lankford has spent the past four months negotiating a bipartisan deal to tie Ukraine financing to border security measures, a trade-off that Republicans had demanded but rejected on Wednesday.
They are expected to be among the senators pushing for a vote on amendments as a condition of their support.
“I'm not giving up on the border,” Mr. Graham said in an interview, despite voting earlier on Wednesday to abandon the Ukrainian aid and border deal.
Among the border-related amendments proposed by Republicans are a measure that mirrors the Lankford border deal and a tougher immigration enforcement bill that Republicans in the House of Representatives passed last spring.
There was also talk of an effort to revoke or amend the Flores Settlement 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 yet been made. had been taken over. whether the proposal will be continued.
Democrats also have a wish list of proposed changes to the measure. Nearly two dozen Democratic senators, most from the left wing of the party, have signed an amendment requiring security aid recipients to use weapons in accordance with U.S. law, international humanitarian law and the laws of armed conflict — and not attempts prevent humanitarian aid from being sent to civilians. Although the measure does not specifically mention Israel, it was prompted by senators' concerns about that country's bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which would violate international law.
Carl Hulse reporting contributed.