The U.S. Senate has passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after an all-night session.
The 70-29 vote ended a lengthy battle that exposed sharp foreign policy differences within the Republican Party.
The House will then debate the bill, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has said his chamber will not consider the legislation because it does not include border security provisions.
The package would appropriate $60 billion to support Ukraine, which has been at war with Ukraine after Russia invaded in February 2022. It would also send $14 billion in military assistance to Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza and elsewhere, and nearly $5 billion to defend Taiwan.
Supporters of the legislation, which include most Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell regard Russian President Vladimir Putin as a threat to democracy in Europe.
An investment in Ukraine’s effort to hold Russia at bay would prevent the involvement of American troops down the line, they argue, should Russia succeed and feel emboldened to attack a NATO ally.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, called it „the most important vote we will ever take as United States senators.”
The majority of Senate Republicans, however, opposed the aid. They cited hesitations to use taxpayer money to support a foreign war while there are other issues to tackle at home.
Much of the funding that would be set aside for Ukraine would go to U.S defense contractors. Nearly $20 billion would replenish the Department of Defense’s stockpile of weapons and equipment it has already provided to Ukraine; another nearly $14 billion would go to a Defense Department program in which the agency buys new weapons for Ukraine from U.S. manufacturers, USA Today reported.
Over the weekend, former President Donald Trump said NATO members needed to pay the agreed 2% of their GDP to defense or he would „encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want.”
