WASHINGTON: Republican senators blocked a White House plea for 106 billion dollars in emergency aid primarily for Israel and Ukraine Wednesday as conservatives balked at the barring of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.
The vote marked an important defeat for US President Joe Biden, who had warned the US Congress earlier in the day that Russian President Putin would not stop with victory in Kyiv and could even attack a NATO country.
The package would also include 60 billion dollars to help Kyiv keep up pressure on Moscow during the winter months and about 10 billion dollars for Israel, plus some help for Taiwan.
US Senate Blocks Israel, Ukraine Aid Despite Biden’s Warning
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic lawmaker, had vowed to holding a vote later on adding the border security steps demanded by Republican side in a bid to secure the sixty votes needed to get it over its first procedural obstacle.
President Biden has led the global coalition backing Ukraine, but support has been waning among Republican legislators in Congress, and the Biden’s administration has warned that it will run out of money for Ukraine help in weeks unless legislators act.
Biden has been under pressure from progressives to reject conservative demands on immigration — which they say are similar to closing the border — but he pledged in an impassioned televised address he would accept ” compromise.”
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Earlier, Earlier, Zelensky had canceled plan to appeal directly to US legislators for new aid and help, as a partisan battle over policy of immigration threatened to derail President Joe Biden’s plea for billions of dollars for Ukraine’s fight against Moscow, Western media reported on Tuesday.
Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives and Senate have been debating for weeks over President Biden’s October plea that Congress adopts 106 billion dollars for Ukraine. The House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson stated funds for Ukraine must be inked to “transformative change” in American immigration policy.
