A day after the House failed to pass its standalone Israel aid bill, the Senate was unable to move forward on its national security supplemental and is now set to consider a $95.3 billion version with foreign assistance but no border security provisions.
The backup, slimmed-down bill with foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific partners was unveiled on Wednesday afternoon just before Senate Republicans blocked a procedural vote to move forward on the larger $118 billion package with border policy changes, which follows months of bipartisan negotiations to secure GOP support for the supplemental.
“Republicans first insisted the only way to pass this national security supplemental was with a border package attached. Now, they are saying the only way it can proceed is without. I am giving them both options. Democrats are ready to move forward on either option,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement on Wednesday. “If Republicans want to meet this moment, and finally prove they want to fix the ‘crisis’ they have screamed about for months, now is their time. They will now have the opportunity to show the American people if they will step up to the plate to protect our border and protect democracy.”
Senate leaders on Sunday evening unveiled their border bill to go along with national security supplemental with more aid for Ukraine and Israel, which included $758.5 million in acquisition and deployment appropriations to help secure the southern U.S. border with Mexico (Defense Daily, Feb. 5).
The White House noted its “strong” support for the legislation, citing its inclusion of the “toughest and fairest set of border reforms in decades,” but the measure quickly drew opposition from some Senate Republicans for not going far enough in restricting immigration measures and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declaring the bill “dead on arrival” if it was sent to the House.
“I had a popular commentator four weeks ago that I talked to that told me flat out, before they knew any contents of the bill…that if ‘you tried to move a bill that solves the border crisis during this presidential year, I will do whatever I can to destroy you because I do not want you to solve this during the presidential election,’” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the lead Republican negotiator in the Senate on the proposed supplemental, said during floor remarks ahead of Wednesday’s procedural vote.
The procedural vote to move forward on the larger $118 billion package failed to meet the 60-vote threshold, with Lankford and Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) the only Republicans to vote for the measure.
The backup $95.3 billion supplemental unveiled on Wednesday doesn’t have the border security items and otherwise retains the assistance levels from the current package, to include $60 billion to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, $14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel, $2.4 billion to support operations in U.S. Central Command and $4.8 billion to deter Chinese aggression and support Indo-Pacific partners, including Taiwan.
“After demanding border policy changes in exchange for passing aid to Ukraine, Republicans are poised to reject the very thing they insisted upon for months. But far too much hangs in the balance to give up now,” Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chair of the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the House failed to meet the two-thirds support threshold to move forward on its standalone $17.6 billion Israel aid bill.
Johnson announced over the weekend the House’s plans to take up its own Israel aid bill, which received pushback from Freedom Caucus members for its lack of offsetting costs with IRS cuts and Democrats who pushed for taking up the Biden administration’s larger supplemental request.
The White House on Monday evening stated it “strongly opposes” the House’s bill and called it a “cynical political maneuver” that follows months “working with a bipartisan group of Senators to reach a national security agreement that secures the border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel, while also providing much-needed humanitarian assistance.”
Ultimately, the House voted 250-180 on the Israel aid bill, with 46 Democrats supporting the measure and 14 Republicans opposing the legislation.
“We have wasted yet another week when we should be fully engaged in bipartisan conversations to support Israel, Ukraine, and our Indo-Pacific allies and provide desperately needed humanitarian aid. Our allies cannot wait, our border communities cannot wait, our cities cannot wait. It is time to put our country and our national security ahead of partisan politics,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member on the Appropriations Committee, said in a statement following the vote.