House Speaker Mike Johnson late Monday sharply criticized a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other countries, casting serious doubts about the future of the package just as Senate leaders were slowly muscling it toward a final vote. Senate leaders, trying to send a message that the U.S. remains committed to its allies, were looking to overcome marathon speeches from a determined group of Republican senators and hold a vote to pass the bill in the early morning hours of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
But Johnson, a Louisiana Republican Republican, said in a statement the package lacked border security provisions, calling it \u201csilent on the most pressing issue facing our country.\u201d It was the latest \u2013 and potentially most consequential \u2013 sign of opposition to the Ukraine aid from conservatives who have for months demanded that border security policy be included in the package, only to last week reject a bipartisan proposal intended to curb the number of illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAmerica deserves better than the Senate\u2019s status quo.\u201d The mounting opposition was just the latest example of how the Republican Party\u2019s stance on foreign affairs is being transformed under the influence of Donald Trump, the likely Republican presidential nominee.<\/p>\n
Even if the package passes the Senate, as is expected, it faces an uncertain future in the House, where Republicans are more firmly aligned with Trump and deeply skeptical of continuing to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. As Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and 17 other GOP senators have provided the votes to ensure the foreign aid package stays on track to clearing the Senate, Johnson has shown no sign he will put the package up for a vote.<\/p>\n
Support for sending military aid to Ukraine has waned among Republicans, but lawmakers have cast the aid as a direct investment in American interests to ensure global stability. The package would allot roughly $60 billion to Ukraine, and about a third of that would be spent replenishing the U.S. military with the weapons and equipment that are sent to Kyiv. \u201cThese are the enormously high stakes of the supplemental package: our security, our values, our democracy,\u201d said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as he opened the chamber.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of American values.\u201d Schumer worked closely with McConnell for months searching for a way to win favor in the House for tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine. But after the carefully negotiated Senate compromise that included border policy collapsed last week, Republicans have been deeply divided on the legislation.<\/p>\n
Sen. J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican, argued that the U.S. should step back from the conflict and help broker an end to the conflict with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He questioned the wisdom of continuing to fuel Ukraine\u2019s defense when Putin appears committed to continuing the conflict for years. \u201cI think it deals with the reality that we\u2019re living in, which is they\u2019re a more powerful country, and it\u2019s their region of the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vance, along with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and other opponents, spent several hours on the floor railing against the aid and complaining about Senate process. They dug in to delay a final vote. \u201cWish us stamina. We fight for you. We stand with America,\u201d Paul posted on social media as he and other senators prepared to occupy the floor as long as they could.<\/p>\n
Paul defended his delays, saying \u201cthe American people need to know there was opposition to this.\u201d But bowing to Russia is a prospect some Republicans warned would be a dangerous move that puts Americans at risk. In an unusually raw back-and-forth, GOP senators who support the aid challenged some of the opponents directly on the floor.<\/p>\n
North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis angrily rebutted some of their arguments, noting that the money would only help Ukraine for less than a year and that much of it would go to replenishing U.S. military stocks. \u201cWhy am I so focused on this vote?\u201d Tillis said. \u201cBecause I don\u2019t want to be on the pages of history that we will regret if we walk away. You will see the alliance that is supporting Ukraine crumble. You will ultimately see China become emboldened. And I am not going to be on that page of history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., became emotional as he talked about the drudgery of the Senate and spending time away from his family to get little done. \u201cBut every so often there are issues that come before us that seem to be the ones that explain why we are here,\u201d he said, his voice cracking. Moran conceded that the cost of the package was heavy for him, but pointed out that if Putin were to attack a NATO member in Europe, the U.S. would be bound by treaty to become directly involved in the conflict.<\/p>\n
Trump, speaking at a rally Saturday, said that he had once told a NATO ally he would encourage Russia \u201cto do whatever the hell they want\u201d to members that are \u201cdelinquent\u201d in their financial and military commitments to the alliance. The former president has led his party away from the foreign policy doctrines of aggressive American involvement overseas and toward an \u201cAmerica First\u201d isolationism.<\/p>\n
Evoking the slogan, Moran said, \u201cI believe in America first, but unfortunately America first means we have to engage in the world.\u201d Senate supporters of the package have been heartened by the fact that many House Republicans still adamantly want to fund Ukraine\u2019s defense. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, traveled to Kyiv last week with a bipartisan group that included Reps. Mike Turner, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, as well as French Hill, R-Ark., Jason Crow, D-Colo. and Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.<\/p>\n
Spanberger said the trip underscored to her how Ukraine is still in a fight for its very existence. As the group traveled through Kyiv in armored vehicles, they witnessed signs of an active war, from sandbagged shelters to burned-out cars and memorials to those killed. During a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the U.S. lawmakers tried to offer assurances the American people still stood with his country.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was clear that our continued support is critical to their ability to win the war,\u201d Spanberger said. \u201cIt\u2019s critical to their own freedom. And importantly, it\u2019s critical to U.S. national security interests.\u201d The bipartisan group discussed how rarely used procedures could be used to advance the legislation through the House, even without the speaker\u2019s support.<\/p>\n
But Spanberger called it a \u201ctragedy\u201d that the legislation could still stall despite a majority of lawmakers standing ready to support it. \u201cThe fact that the only thing standing in the way is one person who does or doesn\u2019t choose to bring it to the floor,\u201d she said. \u201cThe procedure standing in the way of defeating Russia \u2013 that\u2019s the part that for me is just untenable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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