The Senate was headed for a critical vote on Tuesday to clear the way for final consideration of the $95.3 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, paving the way for the bill’s passage and send signature to President Biden.
The measure, which passed the House of Representatives on Saturday, was expected to receive broad bipartisan support in a test vote scheduled for early this afternoon. That would lead to a vote on final passage on Tuesday evening. Mr Biden has urged lawmakers to take quick action so he can sign it into law.
“The Senate is meeting at a time nearly six months in the making,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and majority leader. “A few days ago, the House of Representatives finally approved vital national security funding for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and for humanitarian assistance. Today it is the Senate’s turn to take action.”
“Let’s not delay this,” he continued. “Let’s not prolong this. Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting a moment longer.”
The House of Representatives passed the package Saturday in four parts: one measure for each of the three U.S. allies, and another aimed at sweetening the deal for conservatives and including a provision that could result in a nationwide ban on TikTok. They sent the legislation to the Senate as one package, requiring only one up or down vote. Speaker Mike Johnson structured the legislation in the House of Representatives in such a way as to gain different coalitions of support without allowing opposition to any one element to undermine the entire case.
The components of the bill are virtually identical to the bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support in February. It includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
In addition to the sweetener package, which also includes a new round of sanctions on Iran, the House added provisions to direct the president to seek reimbursement from the Ukrainian government for $10 billion in economic aid. That was a nod to a call by former President Donald J. Trump to provide further aid to Kiev in the form of a loan. But the bill would allow the president to forgive these loans starting in 2026.
Some Republicans who oppose continuing to send aid to Ukraine are expected to vote against the legislation, as are some liberal Democrats, who have said they cannot approve sending more offensive weapons to Israel at a time when the campaign of the government in Gaza has suffered fatalities. tens of thousands of people and caused a hunger crisis there.
But the vast majority of senators are expected to support the legislation, and Senate leaders viewed the bill’s pending passage as a particular triumph given months of opposition to aid to Ukraine that had been building in the House of Representatives.
For months, Mr. Johnson and right-wing Republicans in the House of Representatives had refused to consider aid to Ukraine unless Mr. Biden agreed to a series of tough measures to curb immigration at the U.S. border with Mexico. When Senate Democrats approved legislation earlier this year that tied the aid to stricter border enforcement provisions, Mr. Trump denounced it and Republicans immediately rejected it.
The Senate then passed its own $95 billion emergency aid legislation for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan without any immigration measures, increasing political pressure on the House of Representatives to do the same. The message to Mr. Johnson from Mr. Schumer and Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and minority leader, was the same: Pass the Senate bill.
In wide-ranging remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday ahead of the procedural vote, Mr. McConnell called Congress’ passage of the relief package “a test of American resolve, our readiness and our willingness to lead,” and chided those who, he said, , would ‘nurture the fantasy of raising a drawbridge’.
“Make no mistake: delays in providing weapons to Ukraine to defend itself have dented the prospects for defeating Russian aggression,” McConnell said. “Doubt and hesitation have exacerbated the challenges we face. Today’s action is overdue, but our work does not end here. Confidence in American resolve is not rebuilt overnight. Expanding and replenishing the arsenal of democracy does not just happen.”