Senate kills sweeping border, foreign aid deal – even as lawmakers eye Israel, Ukraine funding

WASHINGTON – Months after Senate Republicans demanded border security legislation in exchange for their support on additional aid to Ukraine, GOP lawmakers blocked legislation Wednesday that would do just that.

But in a last-minute twist, the Senate may instead advance a separate $95 billion package, stripped of border provisions, that would appropriate additional funds for Ukraine, Israel and humanitarian assistance – similar to what President Joe Biden requested in October.

With a 49-50 vote, the Senate voted against moving forward the $118 billion package that would have provided funding for foreign aid and revamped America's border and immigration policies. The reforms would have, among other things, tightened asylum laws and created a new mechanism to shut down the border if illegal crossings reached a certain threshold.

Four Republicans joined with Democrats to attempt to advance the legislation: moderate Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and James Lankford, R-Okla., who was the lead GOP negotiator on the bill.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and four Democrats voted to defeat it, including Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ed Markey, D-Mass.

Former President Donald Trump railed against the bill well before it was released, amping up pressure on congressional conservatives to reject it. When it finally came out Sunday, around half of Republicans said they opposed it within 24 hours.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declared there was no path forward for the legislation Tuesday afternoon. But Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Wednesday morning that he would push for the Senate to advance a separate aid bill – effectively forcing Republicans to quickly say where they stand on Ukraine funding, which has been controversial within their caucus.

Republicans in the House and Senate in recent months have balked at providing additional aid to the war-torn country unless it cleared a series of hurdles.

The emergency aid bill lawmakers pivoted to would appropriate $60 billion for Ukraine’s continued war against Russia, which has been attempting to take territory from the small Eastern European country since early 2022. It would also set aside $14 billion for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, $9 billion for humanitarian assistance in Gaza and elsewhere and nearly $5 billion for U.S. trade partners in the Indo-Pacific.

After the vote defeating the joint border and foreign aid bill, Senate Republicans met privately to discuss whether to advance the new foreign aid bill. Some lawmakers demanded to vote on amendments to the package related to the border.

It remains unclear when the chamber will consider the new proposal.

Democrats take a victory lap after Republican reversal

Wednesday's vote caps a months-long process in which a group of bipartisan negotiators worked to craft a deal to address America's southern border that could get support from both parties in the Senate. But Republicans panned the proposal as too lenient on people crossing illegally and promptly rejected it, arguing Biden could take action on his own to shut down the border.

Democrats have hammered that reversal as an indication that their GOP colleagues were bowing to Trump, who has spoken to some individual lawmakers about the bill and publicly slammed it.

"We want them to pass the border bill," Schumer told reporters Wednesday. "If they vote against it, America will know who is for fixing the border and who is not."

Biden has struck a similar chord in recent days. The White House said in a statement Wednesday that they support the pared down aid bill lawmakers are now considering.

Republicans have pushed back on the accusation that Trump influenced their decision-making, arguing it was a bad policy that would have only made the border crisis worse.

"The Democrats are very, very desperate to shift blame here when no one in their right mind believes that Donald Trump is responsible for Joe Biden's failure," said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo.. "It's such a ridiculous argument."

If the Senate does advance the standalone foreign aid bill, it's not clear whether it could pass the House, where the divisions over providing additional support to Ukraine are even deeper than those in the Senate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Senate Republicans kill bipartisan border, Ukraine, Israel deal