Senate releases $118 billion bipartisan aid proposal for Israel, Ukraine, border security

Senators
on
Sunday
released
the
details
of
a
$118.2
billion

bipartisan
aid
proposal
for
Ukraine,
Israel
and
the
southern
U.S.
border,
after
months
of
painstaking,
closed-door
negotiations.

The
long-awaited
bill
requests
$60.1
billion
for

Ukraine
aid,
$14.1
billion
for

Israel
and
$20.2
billion
to
improve
security
at
the

U.S.
border.
It
also
includes
smaller
pockets
of
funding
for
humanitarian
assistance
in
war-torn
regions,
and
defense
operations
in
the

Red
Sea
and

Taiwan.

President
Joe
Biden
initially
proposed
a
more
than
$105
billion
aid
package
in
October.
The
Senate’s
new
deal
roughly
matches
the
funding
proportions
Biden
had
requested
for
Ukraine,
Israel
and
Taiwan.

The
central
difference
in
the
new
proposal
is
over
$13
billion
more
in
border
security
funding,
which
was
a
major
point
of
contention
in
the
months-long
Senate
talks.

Republicans
have
criticized
the

Biden
administration
for
its
handling
of
the
border,
which
has
seen
record
numbers
of
migrant
crossings
in
recent
months.
Democrats
have
countered
that
the
president
needs
further
executive
authority
to
institute
more
aggressive
border
security.

The
president
said
Sunday
that
he
supports
the
Senate’s
bipartisan
proposal,
including
the
term
that
gives
him
“new
emergency
authority
to
shut
down
the
border
when
it
becomes
overwhelmed.”

“I
urge
Congress
to
come
together
and
swiftly
pass
this
bipartisan
agreement.
Get
it
to
my
desk
so
I
can
sign
it
into
law
immediately,”
Biden
said.

Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
said
a
vote
is
scheduled
for
the
bill
on
Wednesday.

The
publication
of
the
bill
marks
a
small
victory
for

Senate
negotiators
who
have
gone
back
and
forth
for
months
trying
to
strike
a
deal.

“I
know
the
overwhelming
majority
of
Senators
want
to
get
this
done,
and
it
will
take
bipartisan
cooperation
to move quickly,”
Schumer
said
in
a
statement
following
the
proposal’s
release.
“Senators
must
shut
out
the
noise
from
those
who
want
this
agreement
to
fail
for
their
own
political
agendas.”

Just
as
soon
as
the
Senate
back-patting
is
over,
the
proposal
will
face
its
next
major
battle:
House
Republicans.

Republican
lawmakers
have
been
preparing
to
greet
the
Senate
bill
with
hostility.

Speaker
Mike
Johnson,
R-La.,
on
Saturday

announced
a
House
proposal
that
would
fund
Israel
alone,
a
blatant
attempt
to
preempt
the
Senate’s
broader
foreign
aid
bill.
Johnson
said
the
House
would
vote
on
the
bill
next
week.

The
White
House
criticized
the
House’s
counterproposal,
deeming
it
a
political
stunt.

“We
see
it
as
a
ploy
that’s
being
put
forward
on
the
House
side
right
now,
as
not
being
a
serious
effort
to
deal
with
the
national
security
challenges
America
faces,”
National
Security
Adviser
Jake
Sullivan
said
Sunday
on
NBC’s
“Meet
the
Press.”
“From
our
perspective,
the
security
of
Israel
should
be
sacred.
It
shouldn’t
be
part
of
any
political
game.”

Despite
the
White
House’s
scolding,
the
funding
package
has
increasingly
grown
into
a
political
pawn
over
the
past
few
weeks.

As
the
election
kicks
into
high
gear,
Republican
lawmakers
who
once
appeared

ready
to
compromise
have
suddenly
gone
cold
on
the
deal,
aware
that
its
passage
would
make
a
convenient
victory
for
the
Biden
2024
campaign.

Johnson
has
been
a
prime
example
of
the
tone
shift.

In
mid-January,
he
joined
Biden
and

Schumer
for
what
he
called
a

“productive”
meeting
specifically
about
the
border
negotiations.
After
the
meeting,
in
an
expression
of
bipartisan
hope,
Johnson
said
the
officials
had
reached
a
level
of
“consensus.”

But
former
president
and
GOP
frontrunner

Donald
Trump
has
reportedly
put
pressure
on
Republicans
to

torpedo
the
deal
so
that
he
can
continue
using
the
border
crisis
as
a
line
of
attack
in
his
campaign.
 

In
a
Sunday
interview
with
NBC’s
“Meet
the
Press,”
Johnson
denied
that
Trump
had
any
outside
influence:
“He’s
not
calling
the
shots.
I
am
calling
the
shots
for
the
House.”

But
a
week
after
Johnson’s
optimistic
meeting
with
Schumer
and
Biden,
the
speaker
reversed
course
and
expressed
cynicism
about
the
deal.

“If
rumors
about
the
contents
of
the
draft
proposal
are
true,
it
would
have
been
dead
on
arrival
in
the
House
anyway,”
Johnson
wrote
in
a

letter
to
his
colleagues
in
late
January.

The
White
House
has
called
out
the
mood
swing.

“Suddenly,
we’ve
heard
a
change
of
tune,”
Press
Secretary
Karine
Jean-Pierre
said
at
a
recent
briefing.
“Actually
tackle
the
problem
instead
of
playing
politics
with
it.”

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