The Senate is poised for a critical vote later today on a comprehensive border security bill bundled within a national security supplemental funding package. Expectations for the bill’s passage are dim as broad Republican opposition mounted swiftly after the bill’s details went public earlier this week.
Senate leaders on Sunday released the details of a long-awaited comprehensive border security bill, which also contains a substantial foreign aid component.
The discussions, led by Senators James Lankford (R-OK), Krysten Sinema (I-AZ), and Chris Murphy (D-CT), come after months of negotiations with the Biden regime.
As reported by The Gateway Pundit, the comprehensive $118.28 billion national security supplemental package, totaling $118.28 billion, allocates a staggering $60.06 billion to Ukraine in response to Russia’s aggressive military actions.
In contrast, U.S. border security efforts are earmarked to receive $20.23 billion. This disparity in funding allocation has raised eyebrows and sparked a debate over the Senate’s priorities at a time when domestic border security challenges persist.
According to Democrat Senator Patty Murray, Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, the $118.28 billion national security supplemental package includes:
Foreign Aid Commitments:
$60.06 billion in support for Ukraine amidst Russian aggression
$14.1 billion in security assistance for Israel
$2.44 billion to address U.S. Central Command operations and conflict-related expenses in the Red Sea
$10 billion in global humanitarian assistance
$4.83 billion to support Indo-Pacific allies against Chinese encroachment
$2.33 billion for displaced Ukrainians and other refugees worldwide
Border Security and Immigration Provisions:
$20.23 billion for border operations, policy enforcement, and narcotics interdiction
Introduction of the Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence (FEND) Off Fentanyl Act
$400 million for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program
Provisions for government intervention at varying thresholds of border encounters
Work authorizations for illegal aliens
A coalition of Senate Republicans has firmly positioned themselves against a controversial piece of legislation spearheaded by Senator James Lankford (R-OK), which critics now call the “Invasion Authorization Act.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has advised GOP senators to block the motion to proceed with the border security bill during a Wednesday vote, as reported by Punchbowl News.
“McConnell explicitly recommended a NO vote on cloture on the motion to proceed, according to several attendees. McConnell said the problem isn’t what Lankford negotiated, it’s that the political mood in the country has changed,” according to Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has issued an ultimatum, suggesting that failure to pass the bill could lead to American involvement in war, a claim that has been met with criticism, especially given that Ukraine is not a NATO member and therefore not under U.S. protection.
Now, Schumer has a contingency plan should the package face opposition. He remains optimistic about a national security supplemental spending bill, devoid of the contested border policy changes, securing the requisite bipartisan support to surpass the 60-vote threshold necessary for advancement in a vote slated for later today.
“Schumer has told Senate Dems he is planning to put the negotiated supplemental on the floor without the border security piece after the expected failed cloture vote Wednesday,” a Senate Democratic aide said, per The Hill.
“Schumer told members of his caucus and the White House last week that if the Republicans scuttled the bipartisan border and supplemental agreement, he had prepared a plan to use the motion to reconsider to force Republicans to vote on the supplemental without border [reforms],” the aide added.
In a statement to the media, Schumer said, “First, Republicans said they would only do Ukraine and Israel humanitarian aid with border. Then they said they would not do it with border. Well, we’re going to give them both options. We’ll take either one. We just hope they can come to yes on something.”
“We knew about a week ago when Trump mixed in and know wanted to be political and said he’d prefer chaos at the border because he thinks it helps him electorally. We knew that we might have to have a second option. So, I then called the White House and told my caucus that if, unfortunately, the big supplemental bill failed, we would do everything but border,” he added.
Schumer believes the Ukraine bill, without the border security, will secure sufficient support to move forward in today’s vote.
“The majority of Republicans in the House said they want to do Ukraine, they want to do Israel. And we hope that if we pass it in the Senate, that the House would then rise to the occasion. The House is in chaos. It doesn’t behoove the Speaker well to block everything because 30 hard rightwing people just want chaos like Donald Trump,” he said.
“I expected the kind of cynical nonsense from the far right House MAGA Republicans, but it is shameful and embarrassing to see MAGA radicalism take hold here in the Senate,” Schumer added.
.@SenSchumer: “The House is in chaos, it doesn’t behoove the Speaker well to block everything because 30 hard right-wing people just want chaos like Donald Trump does.” pic.twitter.com/ZocepLHejj
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 7, 2024
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