The Senate eyes new plan on Ukraine, Israel aid after collapse of border package
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is trying to salvage wartime funding for Ukraine from a collapsed deal that had included border enforcement policy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mounting a last-ditch effort, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried Wednesday to salvage wartime funding for Ukraine from a collapsed deal that had included border enforcement, pushing ahead on a crucial test vote for tens of billions of dollars for Kyiv, Israel and other U.S. allies.
The New York Democrat planned to force Republicans to take two tough procedural votes. First, for a long-negotiated $118 billion package with border enforcement measures that collapsed this week after Republicans rejected it; then, for a modified package with the border portion stripped out. If Republicans support either bill, it would still take the Senate days to reach a final vote.
“We still believe Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian aid to the Middle East and helping Indo-China, as well as strengthening our military, is vitally important,” Schumer told reporters Wednesday.
The roughly $60 billion in Ukraine aid has been stalled in Congress for months because of opposition from hardline conservatives who criticize it as wasteful and demand an exit strategy for the war. The impasse means that the U.S. has halted arms shipments to Kyiv at a crucial point in the nearly two-year-old conflict, leaving Ukrainian soldiers without ample ammunition and missiles as Russia mounts relentless attacks.
