Senate Republicans blocked a supplemental funding bill, including the financial aid for Ukraine and Israel, which threatened the border security.
The vote has increased the likelihood that Congress will fail to approve more funding for Ukraine before the end of the year. The White House informed that Kyiv was desperately in need of more aid.
Senate Republicans Block Financial Aid for Ukraine, Israel
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 06: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a statement urging Congress to pass his national security supplemental from the Roosevelt Room at the White House on December 06, 2023 in Washington, DC. Following a virtual meeting with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Biden called on Congress to take action on the security budget supplemental request which includes funding to support Israel, Ukraine and added security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Senate Republicans have opposed advancing the legislation with a vote of 49 to 51. The vote came one day after Senate Democrats formally disclosed the $111 billion supplemental security bill, reflecting Biden's funding request in October to assist the US's allies abroad.
Republicans in both chambers of Congress demanded stricter border regulations in exchange for their support. However, the bill failed to meet their requirements, as sixty votes were needed to approve the legislation.
They have also raised serious concerns about the border provisions of the bill, such as allocating $10 billion for aid to Israel, which sparked criticism from Bernie Sanders.
Sanders said that the government should not be appropriating $10 billion for the right-wing, extremist Netanyahu government to continue its current military strategy. He said that Netanyahu's government was immoral and violated international law, and the United States should not be complicit in those actions.
Biden pushed Congress to pass the bill as failure to act would only benefit Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, in the war against Ukraine. "Who is prepared to walk away from holding Putin accountable for this behavior? Who among us is really prepared to do that?" he said.
He added he was not prepared to walk away and thinks the American people are also not ready.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, communicated with the leaders of the G7 group of nations to call on them to confound Vladimir Putin by winning the battle of motivations and not showing weakness.
The G7 leaders met by video at short notice and showed solidarity with the Ukrainian leader, which included trying to breathe new life into the sanctions against Russia.
Zelenskiy was thankful to G7 leaders for their support and warned that Moscow was counting on the collapse of western support for Ukraine. He said that Russia believes America and Russia will show weakness and will not maintain their support for Ukraine.
He noted that Putin believes the free world will not fully enforce its sanctions, and the Russian elite will mock the world's doubts about using Russian assets to compensate for damage from Russian aggression.
The arguments failed to sway the Republicans on Wednesday, even though the supplemental funding bill included several border security measures.
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Tensions Between Biden, Republicans
On Wednesday, Biden said he was willing to make significant compromises on the border but accused Republicans of taking an all-or-nothing approach to the immigration talks.
Biden said that Republicans think they can get everything they want without any bipartisan compromise, but that was not the answer.
According to the Democratic Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, the tensions occurred Tuesday night when a classified Senate briefing on Ukraine escalated into a shouting match. Zelenskiy was scheduled to speak at the briefing but was forced to cancel due to a last-minute issue.
Schumer also accused Republicans of hijacking the meeting to discuss border security. Furthermore, Republicans criticized Schumer for refusing to address the crucial issues that created the current standoff.
Senator Mitt Romney, a Republican of Utah, said that Republicans were walking out of the briefing because the people were unwilling to discuss what it takes to get a deal done.
Related Article: White House Says Ukraine Aid is Nearly Running Out; Congress Now Urged to Take Action Before 2023 Ends
