The Senate voted on Thursday to advance a $95 billion foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel. The 67-32 vote came after hours of deliberation among Senate Republicans, who voted against passing the foreign aid along with a bipartisan border security deal on Wednesday.
Senate Republicans said they would only support the standalone foreign aid with assurances that they would have the chance to add new border provisions and others raised concerns with the distribution of aid. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the floor after the vote: “This is a good first step. This bill is essential for our national security. Failure to pass this bill would only embolden autocrats like Putin and Xi, who want nothing more than America’s decline. Now that we are on the bill, we hope to reach an amendment with our Republican colleagues on amendments.”nSchumer said the Senate would keep at it “until the job is done.”
The Thursday vote advances a bill that could send $60 billion to Ukraine, as well as appropriate $14 billion to Israel, $9 billion for humanitarian aid in Gaza and elsewhere, and nearly $5 billion for Taiwan. The package must face a final majority vote in the Senate chamber, and it is unclear how the package would fare in the House, where Republicans failed to pass standalone aid for Israel.
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