US Senators on Sunday released a highly anticipated $118 billion package that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and other US allies, The Associated Press reported.
The proposal is the best chance for President Joe Biden to resupply Ukraine with wartime aid, a major foreign policy goal that is shared with both the Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and top Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell. The Senate was expected this week to hold a key test vote on the legislation, but it faces a wall of opposition from conservatives.
The new bill would also invest in US defense manufacturing, send $14 billion in military aid to Israel, steer nearly $5 billion to allies in the Asia-Pacific, and provide humanitarian assistance to civilians caught in conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
In a bid to overcome opposition from House Republicans, McConnell had insisted last year that border policy changes be included in the national security funding package. The bill would overhaul the asylum system at the border with faster and tougher enforcement, as well as give presidents new powers to immediately expel migrants if authorities become overwhelmed with the number of people applying for asylum.
In an election-year shift on immigration, Biden and many Democrats have embraced the idea of strict border enforcement, while Donald Trump and his allies have criticized the proposed measures as insufficient.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Saturday that the House will vote on a separate package of $17.6 billion of military aid for Israel — a move that allows House Republicans to show support for Israel apart from the Senate deal.
Johnson put a $14.3 billion Israel aid package on the floor last year that included partisan IRS funding cuts.
US Senate Democrats later blocked the bill, taking issue with the bill over the fact that it would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and that it did not include aid to Ukraine. Later, Senate Republicans blocked aid for Israel and Ukraine from advancing in protest over the dispute about border security policy.
As lawmakers continued to stall the aid to Israel, the Biden administration bypassed Congress in December and approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million.