Senate Sends $95B Foreign Aid Bill to Biden.
The bill’s final passage came late Tuesday
After a comparatively easy path through the Senate.
The Senate on Tuesday evening passed a $95 billion foreign aid package,
sending to President Joe Biden’s desk the critical legislation that will restart the flow of military supplies
To Ukraine in its ongoing fight against Russian invasion and to Israel in its war with Hamas.
Unlike in the House, where the bill was the subject of GOP in-fighting that nearly scuttled it entirely
passage went relatively smoothly in the upper chamber.
Tuesday evening
A bipartisan coalition approved it by a 79-18 margin a foregone conclusion after it passed
the 60-vote threshold to open debate on Tuesday.
A procedural vote to waive budget rules passed 75 to 20.
“This is an extremely important day in the history of our country and of the free world,”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said before the final vote.
“They’re all watching, waiting to see what we would do.”
GOP leadership Tuesday afternoon sent a memo to Senate Republican offices urging as many members as possible to vote for the bill.
The document also took aim at several arguments made recently by members opposing aid to Ukraine
Long the thorniest provision in the measure among GOP lawmakers.
The bill, passed Saturday in the House, includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine,
$26 billion to Israel, and $8 billion to the Indo-Pacific.
It also contains provisions for a potential ban of the social media platform TikTok
If it does not divest from its Chinese parent company in nine months.
Biden could extend that timeframe by up to a year.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier in the day said that
“the time has come to finish the job to help our friends abroad once and for all.”
He added, “I ask my colleagues to join together to pass the supplemental today
As expeditiously as possible, send our friends abroad the aid they have long been waiting for.
Let us not delay this. Let us not prolong this.”
The bill
The bill picked up steam Tuesday as several former naysayers flipped.
More than five Republicans who had previously voted against it – including Sen.
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina
and Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma indicated their support.
But Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas issued a lengthy statement explaining his vote against the bill, citing the the lack of provisions for the southern border as the “decisive reason.”
“If H.R. 2 were added to this package, I would have readily voted for Ukraine military aid. But I can’t continue to allocate funds to secure Ukraine’s border before we secure our own,” he said.
Referring to a House-passed border bill packed with republican agenda items
that had no chance of approval in the Senate or with the White House.
McConnell on Tuesday lambasted those responsible for the months-long delay in resuming aid to Ukraine,
Sheer fiction has premised much of the hesitation and short-sightedness that has delayed this moment.
“And I take no pleasure in rebutting misguided fantasies.
Make no mistake: Delay in providing Ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of defeating Russian aggression,” he said.
“Dithering and hesitation have compounded the challenges we face.”
Senate passes Ukraine aid
The U.S. government is moving quickly to pass legislation that will require TikTok to sever ties with its Chinese parent company if it wants to continue operating in the country, and this legislation is on its way to President Joe Biden’s desk for signing into law.
The bill, which has the backing of Biden and key members of Congress, would allow the administration to ban the popular video-sharing app nationwide if it does not divest from China-based ByteDance within one year.
A similar bill already passed the House in a lopsided, bipartisan 352-65 vote in March.
The Democratic-controlled Senate, led by Chairwoman Maria Cantwell of the Commerce Committee, has stalled it.
D-Wash., had been looking to put her mark on it.
Now, the House plans to package a slightly revised TikTok bill with billions in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan,
all but guaranteeing the potential TikTok ban will become law.
Under the strategy
Used by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.,
the House plans to pass the combined foreign aid and TikTok package
Saturday night and send it to the Senate, setting up a possible vote there as early as next week.
The Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders predicted that Congress had turned the corner in putting Russian President Vladimir Putin
And other foreign adversaries on notice that Washington will continue supporting Ukraine and other foreign partners.
“This national security bill is one of the most important measures Congress has passed in a very long time
To protect American security and the security of Western democracy,”
Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told a news conference after the vote.
The White House could approve the last aid package for Ukraine before the elections in November.
House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs.
Much of the opposition to the security assistance in both the House and Senate has come from Republicans with close ties to former U.S. President Donald Trump.
A Ukraine aid skeptic who has stressed “America First” policies as he seeks a second term.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a strong advocate for assisting Ukraine, expressed regret about the delay,
Largely due to hard-line Republicans’ objections to adding more to the $113 billion
Washington had authorized for Kyiv since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“I think we’ve turned the corner on the isolationist movement,” McConnell told a news conference.
Some of the Ukraine money – $10 billion in economic support – comes in the form of a loan,
which Trump had suggested.
But the bill lets the president forgive the loan starting in 2026.
‘NOW GO WIN THE FIGHT’
The influx of weapons should improve Kyiv’s chances of averting a major breakthrough in the east by Russian invaders,
Although it would have been more helpful if the aid had come closer to when Biden requested it last year, analysts said.
Schumer said he left a message for Zelenskiy on Tuesday night, telling him, “OK, we got it done. Now go win the fight.”
It was not immediately clear how the money for Israel would affect the conflict in Gaza.
Israel already receives billions of dollars in annual U.S. security assistance,
But it more recently has faced its first direct aerial attack by Iran.
Humanitarian assistance
Aid supporters hope the humanitarian assistance will help Palestinians in Gaza,
Which has been devastated by Israel’s campaign against Hamas to retaliate for Oct. 7 attacks that killed 1,200 people.
Gaza health authorities say the campaign has led to the deaths of more than 34,000 civilians in the Palestinian enclave.
It was the second time this year that the Democratic-led Senate passed security aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.
The last bill, more than two months ago, garnered 70% support in the 100-member chamber from Republicans and Democrats.
But leaders of the Republican-controlled House would not allow a vote on the foreign aid until last week.
Industry has closely watched the progress of the legislation.
with U.S. defence firms up for major contracts to supply equipment for Ukraine and other U.S. partners.
Experts expect the supplemental spending to boost the order backlog of RTX Corp,
opens new tab along with other major companies that receive government contracts.
Such as Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab, General Dynamics (GD.N), opens new tab and Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), opens new tab.
The House passed the Ukraine funding by 311-112, with all “no” votes coming from Republicans,
Many of whom were bitterly opposed to further assistance for Kyiv.
Only 101 Republicans voted for it, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to rely on Democratic support
And prompting calls for his ouster as House leader.
However, the House left Washington for a week-long recess, without triggering a vote to remove Johnson.
