U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) holds a press conference after the Senate passed a continuing resolution to avert a federal government shutdown in Washington, U.S., November 15, 2023.
Elizabeth Franz | Reuters
Senators voted Sunday to move forward with a $95 billion aid package to provide funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, after negotiations stalled over the weekend. This is a positive sign that it may be passed.
“I can’t remember the last time the Senate was in session for Sunday’s Super Bowl, but as we’ve said all week, we’re committed to working on this bill until the job is done,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck. I plan on continuing.” Schumer, N.Y., said Sunday. senate chamber.
Sunday’s vote, passed by 67 votes, was one of the final procedural hurdles before a final vote and put the $95 billion bill on track for success after days of back-and-forth talks. It was a good indicator.
“I think the Ukraine spending bill will pass. It’s already cleared some procedural hurdles that require 60 votes. I think it’ll end up being 60 votes,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said. . The bill’s chief negotiator sounded optimistic in a Sunday interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Since Wednesday, lawmakers have spent hours negotiating in the Senate, followed by procedural votes and further negotiations, a tedious process. Those proceedings are likely to be pushed into next week for a final vote, cutting into the Senate’s scheduled two-week recess before federal budget talks begin.
A spokesperson for Mr. Schumer said that if he received the most votes during Sunday’s Super Bowl, Mr. Schumer planned to provide televisions and pizza at the Capitol.
The process could be accelerated if all 100 senators unanimously agree to move up the deadline, but Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been vocal about his desire to delay it. There is.
“I don’t oppose amendments, but I will oppose shortening the time,” Paul told NBC News on Friday. “They’re going to make this situation difficult for a few more days. We’re going to beat the hell out of them because they’re aiming for someone else’s border instead of ours. And we’re going to beat the crap out of them because they’re aiming for someone else’s border instead of ours. And we’re going to make sure that where the cards are.” I’m going to check it out.”
Paul predicted Sunday that if the current pace continues, a final vote will likely be held late Tuesday or early Wednesday.
The $118 billion bill already died on the Senate floor last Wednesday.
The proposal included border security provisions, but Senate Republicans opposed it, leading to the deal being scrapped. Republican opposition to $20 billion in border funding comes after four months of talks to meet conservative demands for additional border security conditions in President Joe Biden’s first aid proposal from October That frustrated Senate negotiators.
Still, hours after the $118 billion bill was defeated, Mr. Schumer held another vote on a new $95 billion borderless version of the bill that would remove the border provision and at least allow foreign aid to pass. .
Some Republican senators remain unhappy with the compromise and are reconsidering the need for border security provisions, causing political whiplash.
“I said if we’re going to secure our own borders here in the United States, we should support Ukraine,” Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said in a CNN interview on Sunday. “My problem is this: Before we do these things, we have to put Americans first again.”