Senate Republicans Now Looking at a 'Standalone' Aid Package for Israel and Ukraine

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

The massive disarray of Republicans in Congress has led to paralysis affecting the passage of bills that fund important national security priorities that a majority of Congress supports. 

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Funding Ukraine's war against Russia might be unpopular with about a third of the GOP caucus, but it still gets the support of the majority of Republicans. And resupply for Israel's war against Hamas is almost universally supported in the GOP. There's also overwhelming support for Taiwan's defense needs as China ups the pressure on Taipei.

Recognizing these priorities, the Senate is offering an aid package without the border funding. But the GOP caucus in the Senate has been broken by the border issue and is in such chaos and confusion they can't decide on a way forward. 

Just as important for the future, it appears that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's influence is disappearing, and his inability to lead the caucus effectively could force his resignation from the Senate sooner rather than later.

Associated Press:

But a deeply divided Republican conference was scrambling to find support for the wartime funding, even though it has been a top priority for Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. It was the latest sign of the longtime Republican leader’s slipping control over his conference and underscored how the traditional GOP tenet of robust foreign involvement is giving way to Donald Trump’s “America First” nationalism. At stake is the future of Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

The Senate floor settled into an hours-long stall Wednesday night as Republicans huddled to see if they could gain the votes necessary to push it through the chamber. Schumer then closed the floor, saying he would “give our Republican colleagues the night to figure themselves out” ahead of a crucial test vote Thursday.

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Some Republicans are still insisting that a border security bill be included in the military aid for Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific. 

"We should insist on securing our border," Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) told Axios. Other Republicans are also insisting on the same.

“We still need to secure America’s borders before sending another dime overseas,” said Sen. Mike Lee of Utah.

News flash: There are two parties in the United States. One party controls the Senate while the other party (supposedly) controls the House. Republicans like Lee and Johnson are simply ignoring those facts and insisting that their fantasy is reality.

Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema, one of the architects of the border bill, came uncomfortably close to the truth.

“Finally, it seemed, we had the opportunity to solve the nightmare my state has lived for over 40 years,” she said. Sinema accused the GOP of wanting “campaign photo ops” but refusing to do anything about the border when presented with the opportunity.

The standalone $95 billion package would invest in domestic defense manufacturing, send funding to allies in Asia, and provide $10 billion for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza and other places.

The revamped package includes legislation to authorize sanctions and anti-money laundering tools against criminal enterprises that traffic fentanyl into the U.S. A separate section of the compromise border legislation that would have provided a long-awaited pathway to residency for tens of thousands of Afghan refugees was dropped in the slimmed-down bill.

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Speaker Johnson, who has claimed several times he supports aid to Israel and Ukraine, will not be able to overcome the opposition of about 50 GOP House members who oppose any money for Ukraine. And the House GOP has already tried to pass aid to Israel in a standalone bill that didn't even make it to the Senate floor. 

Republicans in the House are manifestly without a clue on how to pass any bill except perhaps renaming a post office. They should pray that voters forget their total dysfunction before November. 

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