As conflicts rage abroad, a fractured Congress tries to rally support for historic global challenges

WASHINGTON — As the Senate wrapped up its work for the year, Senator Michael Bennet took to the floor of the nearly empty chamber and made a late-night plea for Congress to double aid to Ukraine: “Understand what's going on right now is at stake.”

It was the third time in recent months that the Colorado Democrat has kept the Senate running late by holding up unrelated legislation in an effort to persuade lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars in weapons and economic aid to Ukraine . During an emotional speech lasting nearly an hour, he called on senators to view the nearly two-year-old conflict as a decisive clash of authoritarianism against democracy and implored them to think about what it means “to be on that icy frontline.” to fight and I don't know if we'll get through with the ammunition.”

Yet Congress broke away for the holidays and is not expected to return for another two weeks, with further aid to Ukraine nearly exhausted. The Biden administration plans to send another relief package before the new year, but says it will be the last unless Congress approves more money.

With support in Congress waning and conflict and unrest undermining global security, the United States is once again struggling to maintain its role in the world. Under the influence of Donald Trump, the former president who now leads the Republican Party, Republican lawmakers have increasingly taken a skeptical stance toward U.S. involvement abroad, especially when it comes to aid to Ukraine.

Leaders of traditional allies Britain and France have called on Western countries to continue their strong support, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is emboldened and building resources for a new effort as the war enters its third year.

“We live in a time when there are all kinds of forces tearing democracy apart, here and abroad,” Bennet said.

Bolstering Ukraine's defenses was celebrated at the Capitol as one of the few remaining bipartisan goals. But now the fate of some $61 billion in funding is tied to delicate policy negotiations on Capitol Hill over border and immigration changes. And for the past year, lawmakers have had to scramble around the clock to pass even legislation that maintains the basic functions of the U.S. government. Bills with ambitious changes have remained almost completely out of reach of the deeply divided Congress.

Yet congressional leaders are trying to rally their members to tackle global challenges that they say are among the most difficult in decades: the largest land invasion of a European nation since World War II, a war between Israel and Hamas, unrest and economic disasters driving historic levels. of migration and China asserting itself as a superpower.

In the Senate, both Democratic and Republican leaders have labeled the $110 billion aid package that seeks to address all these problems as a potential turning point for democracy around the world. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters last week that “history will look back if we do not support our ally in Ukraine.”

In a year-end speech, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said: “From South Texas to Southeast Asia and from the Black Sea to the Red Sea, it is a historically challenging and consequential time to advance the interests of America, our allies and our to protect its own people. .”

The Republican leader, a leading supporter of aid to Ukraine, has been trying to build support for Ukraine in his party for months. But after a $6 billion military and civilian aid package for Ukraine collapsed in October, McConnell began telling top White House officials that any funding would have to come with changes in border policy.

The White House deliberately stayed out of the negotiations until senior officials felt the time was right to do so. But senior Republicans involved in the border talks believe the administration intervened too late, ultimately delaying the prospects of approving additional aid to Ukraine until the new year.

Senate negotiators have had to navigate both the explosive politics of border policy and one of the most complex areas of American law.

“This is a tightrope, but we're still on it,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator.

At one point during the negotiations, McConnell felt compelled to emphasize the urgency to administration officials and impose a deadline to reach a border agreement in time for the agreement to be turned into law before the end of the year.

With negotiations still dragging on, McConnell called White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients on December 7 and said an agreement must be reached within five days — a message the Kentucky Republican emphasized to President Joe Biden himself as the two men later, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

It wasn't until five days later, on December 12, that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and senior White House aides came to the Capitol to participate directly in the negotiations. A White House official said the administration became involved because it felt the talks had moved beyond the realm of unacceptable or unfeasible measures — and into a more productive phase.

A second White House official emphasized that previous legislative negotiations, such as the bipartisan infrastructure bill now more than two years old, started the same way, with Republican and Democratic senators talking for themselves and the administration stepping in once it felt the talks were ready goods. for the White House's involvement.

Still, “it would be nice to have had them sooner,” Senator James Lankford, the Republican Party's chief negotiator, said last week.

“We would have made a lot more progress, and we would have had the potential to get it done this week if they had come sooner,” Lankford said. The two White House officials and the person familiar with McConnell's call to Biden all spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private and ongoing negotiations.

The White House strategy to include Republican priorities such as Israeli aid and border security in the package has also raised some thorny issues for Democrats.

Progressive lawmakers, critical of Israel's campaign in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians, have called for humanitarian conditions to be attached to the money for Israel. And Latino Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives have also been critical of the restrictions on asylum claims.

Any package also faces deep uncertainty in the House of Representatives, where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has tenuous control of the closely divided chamber. Before becoming chairman in October, Johnson had repeatedly voted against aid to Ukraine, but he surprised many by voicing his support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and saying he wants to find a way to approve the aid.

But Trump's allies in the House of Representatives have repeatedly tried to block the US from sending more aid to Ukraine. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally of the former president, said it was a mistake for Republicans to even push for changes in border policy because it could “give the Biden administration some kind of policy victory on the campaign trail.”

As border and immigration talks drag on in the Senate, Johnson has intervened from afar to push for sweeping action. On social media, he has called for “transformational change to secure the border,” and pointed to a bill passed by the party.

As the senators left Washington, they were still trying to reassure Ukrainians that American aid was on its way. White House staff and Senate negotiators planned to work on drafting border legislation over the next two weeks, hoping it would be ready for action when Congress returns.

Schumer told The Associated Press that he was “hopeful” but “I wouldn't go so far as to say he's confident.” He tried to put pressure on Republicans, telling them to be willing to compromise.

Still, Senator Roger Wicker, an Alabama Republican and a supporter of Ukraine, expressed confidence that Congress would act. He alluded to the words of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, another European leader who ultimately received strong U.S. support to repel an invasion.

“Americans will always do the right thing,” Wicker said. “After they have exhausted every other alternative.”

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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.