US senators scrambled Thursday to salvage a multi-billion-dollar aid package for embattled Ukraine that was hanging by a thread as Republican resistance deadlocked negotiations.
Ahead of a crucial procedural vote expected in the afternoon, many conservatives were maintaining staunch opposition to the package, which would allocate $60 billion for Ukraine as well as $14 billion for Israel and assistance for Taiwan and humanitarian aid.
The deeply-polarized Congress is increasingly struggling to get any substantive legislative work done, with major issues of foreign and domestic policy falling foul of internal party wrangling as well as Republican and Democratic intransigence as both sides seek advantages in a fraught election cycle.
Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democratic Senate majority, voiced hopes however that an initial vote could get support from at least 10 Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold for opening debate on the deal.
Republicans huddled in a private morning meeting where they demanded amendments to add border security provisions to the package, just one day after sinking a broader version of the bill that included a bipartisan set of the toughest border restrictions seen in decades.
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump loyalist, said he would be voting no on the standalone aid package because “we have not done all we can to secure our southern border.”
“I have ideas to improve the border provisions and I think they are worthy of consideration by the Senate,” he said.
“I am insistent that we continue our efforts to secure our own border before we turn to helping other countries.”
A vote on a $118 billion package of stringent immigration curbs paired with the foreign aid fell short on Wednesday as Republican allies of former president Donald Trump, who is running again for the White House, voted to kill it.
– Real solutions –
The deal, which Republicans had initially demanded, collapsed almost as soon as the text was released, as Trump — desperate to avoid President Joe Biden getting any credit for fixing the border crisis — lobbied against it.
The foreign aid-only bill could still lack the votes, with Republicans divided between traditional conservatives and Trump’s allies, who are against any action on the border before November’s election and oppose Ukraine aid.
Republicans who came out against the broader deal largely objected to its immigration measures, arguing they weren’t sufficiently robust.
But having rejected the immigration portion, some of the party’s senators immediately began demanding amendment votes on border security before agreeing to advance the standalone aid package.
Even if the foreign aid passes, its route to Biden’s desk looks hazy at best.
Mike Johnson, the speaker in the Republican-led House, has not revealed whether he would be willing to put a foreign aid-only bill on the floor, having repeatedly argued that America needs to secure its own borders before addressing foreign crises.
The heated negotiations are taking place as House Republicans try to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his perceived inaction on a surge of migrants crossing illegally from Mexico.
“After earning the title of least productive Congress since the Great Depression, the House Republican chaos conference is back this year racking up loss after loss,” said Democratic National Committee rapid response director Alex Floyd.
“Instead of focusing on real solutions to secure the border that have support from border patrol agents and Americans on both sides of the aisle, House Republicans have spent this week backtracking on their words and undermining their own professed priorities in order to do the bidding of Donald Trump.”
