Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked the advance of a $110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel as well as other national security priorities as they tried to force President Biden to include changes to US border policy. The vote, a 49-51 tally that fell short of the Senate's 60-vote threshold for moving ahead, came just hours after Biden said it was "stunning" that Congress has not yet approved tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine. His administration warned of dire consequences for Kyiv—and a "gift" to Russia's Vladimir Putin—if lawmakers don't act, the AP reports.
Speaking at the White House, Biden said Republicans who are insisting on border policy changes as a condition for voting for the aid "are playing chicken with our national security," even as he expressed openness to some policy changes. "Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could hope for," Biden said, saying American credibility was on the line both with other would-be aggressors and with its allies. "Any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin's position," the president said, adding, "If we don't support Ukraine, what is the rest of the world going to do?"
Hours earlier, Biden huddled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders of the Group of Seven advanced democracies, which have staunchly supported Ukraine against Russia's ongoing invasion. Biden has asked Congress for nearly $106 billion to fund the wars in Ukraine and Israel and other security needs, but the plan has faced resistance on Capitol Hill. Some Republicans have grown tired of providing support to Ukraine after the US has already sent $111 billion, and other GOP lawmakers are insisting on changes to US border policy as a condition of voting for the measure.
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Biden said he supports more funding for border security. "We need to fix the broken border system," he said, without specifying what policy changes he would embrace. On Capitol Hill, negotiations over the legislation all but collapsed this week. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been an ardent supporter of aid to Ukraine, told his members to vote against the security package. "Legislation that doesn't include policy changes to secure our borders will not pass the Senate," McConnell said in a speech on the chamber floor earlier in the day. "The situation unfolding at our southern border on President Biden's watch is a crisis of historic proportions."
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