By Marisa Laudadio
2:00pm PST, Feb 17, 2024
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After working through the night, in the early morning hours of Feb. 13 — against the odds — the Senate passed a significant aid package: a $95 billion emergency foreign defense spending bill.
Twenty-two Senate Republicans joined the majority of Democrats in the chamber to pass the package, which appropriates $60 billion to support Ukraine in its war to defend itself from Russia, plus $14 billion in military assistance to Israel and $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza, plus almost $5 billion to Taiwan's defense efforts.
But despite the impressive bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill faces difficulties in the House as former President Donald J. Trump has made his disdain for it clear, while other ultra-conservative Republicans are against it, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who's said the House won't consider the bill because it doesn't include provisions for U.S. border security.
"House Republicans were crystal clear from the very beginning of discussions that any so-called national security supplemental legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement on Feb. 12, adding, "In the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters."
Keep reading to see what more members of Congress are saying about the aid package and related issues…
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"Mitch McConnell and his friends are betraying our voters by leaving the border open, while sending billions more to Ukraine. Even worse, they're trying to set up my dad for another impeachment hoax, in case he is reelected and tries to end the war. Primary the RINOs who support this!" Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X, further posting, "Mitch Glitch McConnell is betraying Americans — leaving our border wide open and putting Zelenskyyy first. And of course, Biden is their perfect swamp puppet since he doesn't even know what day it is."
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"If we want the world to remain a safe place for freedom, for democratic principles, for our future prosperity, then America must lead the way — and with this bill, the Senate declares that American leadership will not waver, will not falter, will not fail," Senator and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the Senate vote, later adding, "Now it's up to the House: Meet this moment, do the right thing and save democracy. If the hard right kills this bill, it would be an enormous gift to [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. It would be a betrayal of our partners and allies, and an abandonment of our service members."
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"Today, I spoke on the House floor to deliver Congress a message from the American people: The Senate worked overtime, even during the Super Bowl, to send $95 billion to foreign wars while our border lies open and Americans suffer under $34 trillion in debt. When will Congress remember its duty is to serve the American people?" Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X.
Earlier in the day on Feb. 13, she also wrote to her followers, "The Senate working overtime to pass a $95 billion package to fund foreign wars is an American betrayal, and it's DOA in the House. Our country is over $34 TRILLION in debt and we are being invaded by millions and millions of people and these same 'public servants' refuse to close our border and reduce our debt. Neither the House nor the Senate have passed all the appropriation bills and have failed to produce a budget for America and that is Congress's constitutional duty. Instead it's just CR after CR after CR. What an utter disaster."
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"[We're grateful to] every U.S. senator who has supported continued assistance to Ukraine as we fight for freedom, democracy, and the values we all hold dear," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement after the Senate vote. "For us in Ukraine, continued U.S. assistance helps to save human lives from Russian terror. It means that life will continue in our cities and will triumph over war."
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"A literal invasion is coming across our border," Senator Rand Paul said on Feb. 12. "And all they had time to do in the Senate was get the money, get the cash pallets, load the planes, get the champagne ready and fly to Kyiv."
He further claimed it's "ludicrous" to believe that helping Ukraine is essential to America's national security. "I think sending money to Ukraine actually makes our national security more endangered," he said, as reported by The New York Times. "The leadership has come together, but it is the wrong kind of compromise. It is a compromise to loot the Treasury. They are shoveling out borrowed cash."
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Russia's President Vladimir Putin is "an evil war criminal, but he will not lose," Senator Ron Johnson said, as reported by The New York Times, adding that "the continuation of this war is destroying Ukraine."
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"The supplemental represents an attempt by the foreign policy blob/deep state to stop President Trump from pursuing his desired policy," Senator J.D. Vance wrote in a memo to Republican colleagues, in part, further claiming that Democrats were trying to "provide grounds to impeach him and undermine his administration."
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"I cannot vote to send more bombs and shells to Israel when they are using them in an indiscriminate manner against Palestinian civilians," Senator Jeff Merkley said on Feb. 12, as reported by The New York Times.
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"No one in Congress should vote to send $10 billion in military aid to Netanyahu's war machine when they are responsible for an unprecedented humanitarian disaster." –Senator Bernie Sanders on X
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"The thread that binds that group together is national security," said Senator Jerry Moran, as reported by The New York Times. "America's national security, the belief that what happens in Ukraine matters to the United States, the belief that what happens in Israel matters and the belief that what happens in the South Pacific matters."
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"I think there is a common understanding that if we fail on this vote, if we don't support Ukraine — this is not bluster, this is not hyperbole — bad things are going to happen," Senator Thom Tillis said on Feb. 12, as reported by The New York Times.
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"Although this legislation is not what we would have drafted, it is a strong bill that makes Idaho and America safer — our first responsibility," Idaho Senators Michael Crapo and Jim Risch said in a statement on Feb. 13.
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"I think they understand the necessity of supporting Ukraine, particularly since this is a contest between a rules-based international order and Russian autocracy," Senator Jack Reed said of the Senate Republicans who voted yes on the aid package. "They also understand that it could involve our service members soon."
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"I don't know who Mike Johnson is. I mean, it's clear Donald Trump is the Speaker of the House… He's in full control." —Rep. Jared Moskowitz on "Morning Joe"
