The US Senate today approved President Joe Biden's request for a massive military aid package for Ukraine and Israel, while the Republicans in the House of Representatives vowed to reject it.
The Senate measure would allocate around $60bn in military aid for Ukraine, $14bn for Israel, in addition to providing $9bn in humanitarian aid to Gaza and other global crisis spots. The bill is substantially the same as requested by Biden in October, but it took an unusual journey to getting approved.
Senate Republicans last year made further aid for Ukraine contingent on Democrats' consent for draconian restrictions on immigration across the US-Mexico border. The Senate Democratic majority and the White House agreed to the compromise. But last minute intervention from former president Donald Trump, who said that addressing the immigration issue would be a political gain for the Biden White House, forced the Republicans last week to vote down the measure they negotiated.
Removing immigration from the bill allowed a bipartisan majority of the Senators to approve funding for Ukraine and other priorities, by a vote of 70-29. Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and 21 other Republicans voted in favor, while senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and two other members of the Democratic caucus voted against in protest over funding Israel's military.
Senate Democrats say that the bill would likely be approved if it reaches the House floor. But the House leadership has vowed to prevent a vote.
"The Senate foreign aid bill is silent on the most pressing issue facing our country," House speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said today, in reference to the security of the US-Mexico border.
"We cannot afford to wait any longer," Biden said today, calling on the House to approve funding for Ukraine. "The costs of inaction are rising every day, especially in Ukraine."
Withholding military aid is likely to prompt Kyiv to consider other ways to overcome the military stalemate with Russia. A series of apparent Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries has already had some effect on production and exports.
Trump and NATO
House Republicans are likely to take cues from Trump, whose latest argument against further military aid for Ukraine includes a demand that other countries should pay for it.
"We are into helping Ukraine for more than $100bn more than NATO," Trump said in a social media post on Sunday.
Trump also promised to withdraw US military protection from those "delinquent" allies if Russia attacks them. "No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want," he said at a campaign rally.
Congress since February 2022 has allocated $114bn in aid to Ukraine, including $66bn for military supplies. The EU in the same period has spent over $96bn on Ukraine, with another $54bn approved earlier this month — without counting the costs of hosting millions of Ukrainian refugees and the higher energy costs resulting from phasing down reliance on Russian oil and natural gas.
Trump's remarks drew condemnation from the White House, while leading Senate Republicans suggested that there would be no major policy changes if Trump is re-elected president.
"NATO cannot be an 'a la carte' military alliance," EU's foreign affairs commissioner Josep Borrell said on Monday. "NATO cannot be an alliance that works depending on the mood of the president of the United States."
