- The package includes funding for Israel's fight against Hamas militants and Taiwan.
- Democrats decoupled the aid from the border issue.
- Many attribute much of the dysfunction to Trump's return to the White House.
The $95 billion package encompasses funding for Israel's fight against Hamas militants and for key strategic ally Taiwan. However, the majority of the funds would assist pro-Western Ukraine in restocking depleted ammunition supplies, weapons, and other crucial needs as it enters its third year of war.
With a very slim Democratic majority, the Senate voted 67-27 to break a procedural hold placed on the bill, virtually ensuring its passage in a final simple-majority vote around midweek. Holding votes on the weekend is unusual for the Senate, and Sunday's session also coincided with the all-important NFL championship game.
“I can’t remember the last time the Senate was in session on Super Bowl Sunday, but as I’ve said all week long, we’re going to keep working on this bill until the job is done,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said before the vote.
“As we speak, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has rendered parts of Eastern Europe a war zone the likes of which we have not seen in those regions since the Second World War,” the New York senator said.
“The only right answer to this threat is for the Senate to face it down unflinchingly, by passing this bill as soon as we can.”
Republicans had initially rejected an earlier version of the aid package on Wednesday, which included many of the Mexico border security measures they had spent months championing, causing the aid to appear dead in the water.
Under pressure from ex-president Donald Trump, who is running for office again and aims to exploit Joe Biden's perceived weakness on immigration, Republicans appeared to decide that they would prefer to halt any border reforms until after November's election.
In a dramatic vote on Thursday, Republican senators relented after the Democrats, who hold a slim majority in the upper chamber, entirely decoupled the aid from the border issue. Ahead of the elections, the two parties have been able to agree on little.
However, much of the dysfunction has been directly attributed to Trump, who appears almost certain to be the Republican standard-bearer in November despite losing the presidency to Biden in 2020 and being embroiled in criminal charges.
Originally, Senate Republicans demanded border security as a condition for supporting pro-Western Ukraine as it battles the invasion launched by Putin in February 2022. However, Trump is running for a return to the White House on a platform centered on accusing Biden of failing to resolve the border issue.
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