US Senate to consider Ukraine aid bill without migration reform – ambassador
On Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Kyiv time, the United States Senate will reconsider the bill supporting Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan without immigration reform, according to The New York Times.
According to Ukrainian Ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, the comprehensive package (Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan/Immigration reform) was not expected to receive support due to a lack of votes for the immigration reform agreement that negotiators have worked on for the past few months, Rubryka reports.
"Before voting on the comprehensive package, the Appropriations Committee published a 'replacement' document, which provides for international assistance exclusively to Ukraine ($60.06 billion), Israel, and Taiwan," she said.
Markarova explained that the Senate supported the procedural decision to review the voting resolution, which was necessary to bring the issue of ending debates and considering the "clean" US international assistance bill without immigration reform to a vote. This will require 60 votes.
The ambassador said, "The evening session is closed, and Majority Leader Schumer has announced his intention to vote on ending debates on the US international assistance bill, which includes Ukraine, Israel, and Indo-Pacific region states, at 12:00 p.m. Washington time on February 8."
As reported by NYT, the Senate got "stuck" in voting on the bill to provide tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine and Israel after Republicans blocked a compromise that included assistance combined with "strict border security measures" and declared a recess without advancing the package of national security spending.
Democrat Chuck Schumer hoped for a quick vote on Wednesday for what he called his "Plan B" to revive the aid package after the failure of the border deal.
But by Wednesday evening, progress had stalled as Senate Republicans were not rushing to vote.
NYT states, "This plan, developed over four months of painstaking bipartisan negotiations, lost Republican support after Trump strongly opposed it. It failed in a 50-49 vote, falling short of the 60 votes needed to advance, as all Republicans except four voted to reject it."
After 7:00 p.m., Schumer announced that the Senate was going on a break to "give our Republican colleagues a night to sort things out."
Members of both parties who supported this package warned that the fate of Eastern Europe hangs in the balance, as does America's reputation on the world stage if Congress fails to move forward.
As reported, the US Senate did not garner enough votes for procedural voting on the bill to strengthen immigration policy, which included additional funding for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
Following this, US President Joe Biden sharply criticized Republicans in Congress.
He said he "never thought he'd see anything like what we're seeing now" on Capitol Hill and blamed his opponent, former President Donald Trump, for calling and "threatening" lawmakers with "retaliation" if they supported a package that also included more American funding for Ukraine and Israel.
Biden said Republicans did this "because Donald Trump is calling and threatening them."
On February 6, US President Joe Biden once again called on the US Congress to vote on a bill to provide additional funding for national security needs, including for Ukraine, Israel, and the southern border of the United States.
What we know about US aid delay
The United States has run out of money designated for military aid to Ukraine. To allocate more funding, President Joe Biden requested over $100 billion from Congress, including over $60 billion for Ukraine.
Currently, Congress is divided on this package, as Republicans demand adding proposals to enhance border security, particularly with Mexico. Biden's request has yet to be approved.
In turn, Biden stressed the importance of Congress making decisions to provide Ukraine with necessary resources, including air defense and artillery, to protect against Russian invasion.
On January 17, US President Joe Biden discussed providing financial and military support to Ukraine with representatives from both houses of Congress. The White House urged swift approval of the $61.3 billion aid package to Ukraine and stressed the importance of strengthening border protection from illegal migrants from Mexico.
Previously, Biden stated his readiness for significant changes in immigration policy and urged Republicans not to block aid to Ukraine, warning that failure to do so would result in even greater costs.
Recently, congressmen have been sending cautious signals that both parties are close to reaching a compromise. However, House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson stated the day before that the deal was "dead."
Meanwhile, possible presidential candidate Donald Trump has also begun pressuring Republicans not to strike the current compromise deal.
Nevertheless, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba reiterated his confidence that the US Congress would approve additional funding for Ukraine despite discrepancies between representatives of the two parties on immigration issues.
