Senate passes $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after rare all-night session

WASHINGTON — The Senate approved a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan early Tuesday, after months of difficult negotiations and amid growing political divisions within the Republican Party over the United States’ role abroad.

The vote came after a small group of Republicans opposed to the $60 billion for Ukraine spoke all night in the Senate, using the final hours of the debate to argue that the US should focus on its own problems before sending more money abroad. But more than a dozen Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in voting for the package 70-29, with supporters arguing that leaving Ukraine could embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and threaten national security around the world.

“It has been years, perhaps even decades, since the Senate passed a bill that has such a major impact not only on our national security, not only on the security of our allies, but also on the security of Western democracy ” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. worked closely with Republican leader Mitch McConnell on the legislation.

The bill’s passage through the Senate was a welcome sign for Ukraine amid critical battlefield shortages. The final vote saw 22 Republicans supporting its passage, while two Democrats, Sens. Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Peter Welch of Vermont, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent, voted against it. Progressive lawmakers have objected to sending assault weapons to Israel.

Still, the package faces a very uncertain future in the House of Representatives, where hardline Republicans aligned with former President Donald Trump — the frontrunner for the Republican Party nomination and a critic of support for Ukraine — oppose the legislation.

Speaker Mike Johnson cast new doubt on the package in a statement Monday night, making clear it could take weeks or months for Congress to send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk — if at all.

Still, the vote was a victory for both Senate leaders. Noting the strong bipartisan support, Schumer predicted that if the Speaker of the House of Representatives brought this up, he would receive the same strong support in that chamber. McConnell has made Ukraine his top priority in recent months and stood firm despite significant pushback from his own Republican conference.

In a speech on Sunday, McConnell said directly to his opponents that “the eyes of the world” were on the US Senate.

“Will we give those who would do us harm more reason to question our resolve, or will we recommit to the exertion of American strength?” McConnell asked.

The dollars provided by the legislation would buy U.S.-made defense equipment, including ammunition and air defense systems that authorities say are desperately needed as Russia ravages the country. It also includes $8 billion for the government in Kiev and other aid.

In addition, the legislation would provide $14 billion for Israel’s war with Hamas, $8 billion for Taiwan and partners in the Indo-Pacific to counter China, and $9.2 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza.

The bill’s passage followed nearly five months of torturous negotiations over a sweeping bill that would have combined foreign aid with an overhaul of border and asylum policies. Republicans demanded this trade-off, saying the wave of migration to the United States must be addressed alongside the security of allies.

But a bipartisan deal on border security brokered by Republican Sen. James Lankford fell apart just days after the revelation, a staggering development that left negotiators deeply frustrated. Republicans declared the bill insufficient and blocked it in the Senate.

After the border bill collapsed, the two leaders abandoned the border provisions and continued to pass the foreign aid package alone — as Democrats had originally intended.

Although the pared-down foreign aid bill ultimately received enough Republican support to pass, several Republican senators who had previously expressed support for Ukraine voted against it. The episode further exposed divisions within the party and became more public as Trump dug in and a handful of lawmakers openly called on McConnell to resign.

Senator JD Vance, a Republican from Ohio, argued that the US should step back from the conflict and help end it with Russia’s Putin. He questioned the wisdom of continuing to fuel Ukraine’s defenses while Putin appears willing to keep fighting for years.

“I think it’s about the reality that we live in, which is that they are a more powerful country, and it’s their region of the world,” he said.

Vance, along with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and other opponents, spent several hours on the floor railing against relief and complaining about the Senate process. They did their utmost to delay a final vote and spoke in the chamber until dawn.

Supporters of the aid pushed back, warning that bowing to Russia would be a historic mistake with devastating consequences. In an unusually raucous back-and-forth, GOP senators supporting the relief challenged some opponents directly on the floor.

Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina angrily refuted some of their arguments, noting that the money would only help Ukraine for less than a year and that much of it would go toward replenishing U.S. military supplies.

“Why am I so focused on this vote?” Tillis said. “Because I don’t want to be on the pages of history that we will regret when we walk away. You will see the alliance that supports Ukraine crumble. Ultimately, you will see China take courage. And I will not be on that page of history.”

Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., became emotional as he spoke about the toil of the Senate and spending time away from his family getting little done. “But every now and then problems come our way that seem to explain why we are here,” he said, his voice cracking.

Moran admitted 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 US would be bound by treaty to become directly involved in the conflict – an obligation that Trump has relied on. question as he seeks another term in the White House.

At a meeting Saturday, Trump said he once told a NATO ally that he would encourage Russia to “do whatever they want” against members who are “delinquent” in their financial and military obligations to the alliance. The former president has steered his party away from the foreign policy doctrines of aggressive American involvement abroad and toward an “America First” isolationism.

Moran invoked the slogan, saying, “I believe in America first, but unfortunately America first means we have to deal with the world.”

While the vast majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives have opposed the aid and are unlikely to thwart Trump, a handful of Republican lawmakers have indicated they will push to get the aid approved.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, R-Ohio, traveled with a bipartisan delegation to Ukraine last week and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Turner posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the trip: “I reiterated America’s commitment to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia.”

But Speaker Johnson is in a difficult position. A majority of his conference opposes the aid, and he is trying to lead the smallest majority and avoid the fate of his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted in October.

Johnson, R-La., said in a statement Monday that because the foreign aid package does not include provisions for border security, it is “silent on the most pressing issue facing our country.” It was the latest — and potentially most consequential — sign of opposition to Ukrainian aid from the Republican Party’s leadership in the House of Representatives, which had dismissed the bipartisan border plan as a “non-starter,” contributing to its rapid demise of it.

“Now that the House has not received any change in Senate border policy, the House will have to continue to exercise its will on these important issues,” Johnson said. “America deserves better than the Senate status quo.”

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia, traveled to Kyiv last week with Turner and other members of the House of Representatives. She said the trip underlined to her how Ukraine is still fighting for its survival.

As the group traveled through Kiev in armored vehicles, they witnessed signs of an active war, from sandbagged shelters to burnt-out cars and memorials to the dead. During the meeting with Zelenskyy, she said US lawmakers were trying to provide guarantees that the American people still stand with their country.

“He was clear that our continued support is critical to their ability to win the war,” Spanberger said. “It is crucial for their own freedom. And more importantly, it is critical to U.S. national security interests.”

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Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.