A $95 billion foreign aid bill cleared the Senate early Tuesday and heads for an uncertain future in the House.
With 22 Republicans and 48 Democrats voting for the bill, it passed by a vote of 70-29 and included $60.1 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, and $10 billion for humanitarian aid for civilians in war zones, which includes Gaza, according to The New York Times.
“It’s dead in the House,” Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri declared during overnight debate, according to The Hill.
But Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called passage of the bill essential.
“I know it’s become quite fashionable in some circles to disregard the global interests we have as a global power, to bemoan the responsibility of global leadership, to lament the commitment that has underpinned the longest drought of great power conflict in human history,” he said.
“This is idle work for idle minds. And it has no place in the United States Senate,” he said
According to the Senate roll call, McConnell was joined in supporting the bill by Republican Sens. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, John Thune and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Roger Wicker of Mississippi, Susan Collins of Maine, Todd Young of Indiana, Mitt Romney of Utah, Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, John Boozman of Arkansas, Mike Crapo and James Risch of Idaho, John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, and Jerry Moran of Kansas.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent, voted against the bill, as did Democratic Sens. Peter Welch of Vermont and Jeff Merkely of Oregon. Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming did not vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson implied in a Monday night statement that until the southern border’s needs were addressed, the bill was unlikely to advance in the House, according to the Times.
Should the House vote in favor of this foreign aid bill?
“House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border,” Johnson said in a statement.
“In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters,” he said.
There is a procedural maneuver in the House called a petition to discharge that could bring the bill to the floor even without Johnson’s assent, but it would take 218 members of the House to support it, requiring a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans to act.
In the Senate, Republicans were divided by the bill.
“Why did Republicans stab their voters in their back?” Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio said at one point, according to The Washington Post.
Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who backed the bill, said it is essential to defeat Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
“If it only stays this bad for the next couple of years, Putin is losing,” he said, saying that prolonging the war could make Putin weaker, the Time reported. “And that’s damn sure worth $60 billion, or $600 billion, to get rid of him.”
Tillis pushed back against the argument that the GOP base is opposed to aiding Ukraine.
“When people use the base as a reason for saying they have to oppose it, I say, I go home, show my base some respect, dispel the rumors, talk about the facts, and then I don’t have a base problem,” he said.
But Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was a caustic critic of the bill.
“A literal invasion is coming across our border. And all they had time to do in the Senate was get the money, get the cash pallets, load the planes, get the champagne ready and fly to Kyiv,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a post on X thanking the Senate for its action.
I am grateful to @SenSchumer, @LeaderMcConnell, and every US Senator who has supported continued assistance to Ukraine as we fight for freedom, democracy, and the values we all hold dear.
For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror.…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 13, 2024
“I am grateful to @SenSchumer, @LeaderMcConnell , and every US Senator who has supported continued assistance to Ukraine as we fight for freedom, democracy, and the values we all hold dear. For us in Ukraine, continued US assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror. It means that life will continue in our cities and will triumph over war. American assistance brings just peace in Ukraine closer and restores global stability, resulting in increased security and prosperity for all Americans and all the free world,” he posted.
