Feb. 7 (UPI) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., plans a vote Wednesday on a bill that separates border security from aid to Ukraine and Israel, as well as Indo-Pacific funding and humanitarian help for Ukraine and Gaza.
According to a Democratic aide cited by The Hill, Schumer has told Senate Dems he is planning “to put the negotiated supplemental on the floor without the border security piece” in the wake of Republicans scuttling a bipartisan border security deal that also included Ukraine and Israel aid.
Schumer’s plan is to vote on whether to proceed with the aid package without border security in it shortly after voting on a procedural vote to advance the broader border and aid bill.
The procedural vote will test how much support the more comprehensive bill has and whether or not it can advance.
If that vote fails, Schumer will bring the bill on Ukraine and Israel to a vote stripped of the border provisions.
Despite Republicans pressing for more southern U.S. border security, they are killing a bipartisan bill negotiated in the Senate that would do just that in order to align themselves with Donald Trump’s campaign messaging on the topic.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has indicated he likely will support the Ukraine aid bill. but it’s uncertain whether he can or will even try to persuade his Republican conference to join him.
In a Politico interview, McConnell said for Republicans to solve border problems they’ve identified, it requires working with Democrats who control the White House and the Senate.
“The reason we’ve been talking about the border is because they wanted to, the persistent critics,” McConnell said. “You can’t pass a bill without dealing with a Democratic president and a Democratic Senate.”
During the president’s flight to a campaign stop in New York on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson and fellow Republicans for the recent failures to approve national-security measures and said there would be consequences because of it.
“So, because congressional Republicans are choosing partisan politics over our national security and refusing to pass the bipartisan national security agreement that includes significant border reforms and funding, over the coming weeks U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be forced to reduce operations because of budget shortfalls,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Speaker Johnson and congressional Republicans should be held accountable,” she said. “This was their choice. They have picked partisan politics over our national security.”
