US Senate approves aid package for Ukraine and Israel: Will it pass the House?

The United States Senate overcame the last obstacle this Monday and approved with the votes of the Democrats and some Republican senators a bill to help Ukraine, Israel and others with $95 billion.

The bill, however, runs the risk of not being approved by the House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, according to its president Mike Johnson.

According to local media, the legislation passed the process on Monday night when a coalition of Republican senators, who have resisted pressure from former president and reelection candidate Donald Trump, joined with Democrats to bring it to a final vote. .

Bipartisan coalition of senators approved foreign aid package totaling $95 billion for Ukraine and Israel in a vote of 66 votes in favor and 33 against, which included the affirmative vote of 17 Republican senators.

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This package also includes another 10 billion for humanitarian aid to civilians in conflict zones.

The $95 billion package includes funding for Israel's military and its strategic ally, Taiwan, but the bulk ($60 billion) would help Ukraine replenish depleted supplies of ammunition, weapons and other crucial needs as it enters a third year of war.

Although it has achieved this approval from the Senate, the future of this new piece of legislation, which only includes measures for foreign aid, is uncertain in the House of Representatives where it should be ratified at the end of this week.

Republicans, who control the majority of the Lower House, have opposed for months continuing to fund Ukraine in its war against Russia.

In fact, The Senate has continued to advance the bill while Trump has argued that the United States should not provide foreign aid unless it's a loan.

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The Democratic bill initially included an agreement on immigration restrictions with which they tried to obtain the support of Republicans without result.

That immigration pact, which a bipartisan group of senators negotiated for weeks with White House officials, failed last week after Trump criticized the agreement, even though the text included immigration restrictions that conservatives have requested for years.

“House Republicans were very clear from the beginning of the discussions that any so-called supplemental national security legislation must recognize that national security begins at our own border,” Johnson said in a statement.

Johnson had previously declared that the Senate's first bill, which included some of the toughest immigration restrictions in decades but which he said did not go far enough, would be “dead on arrival” in his chamber.

His rhetoric matched that of former President Donald Trump, who has strongly called for the bill to be rejected as he runs for office again and seeks to exploit Joe Biden's alleged weakness on immigration.

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For now, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the United States Senate on Tuesday for finally voting in favor of the package of more than $60 billion in assistance to Ukraine. proposed by the White House, which is now only awaiting the final vote.

“I am grateful to Senator Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, and all US senators who have supported continued assistance to Ukraine as we fight for freedom, democracy, and the values ​​we We appreciate it,” Zelensky wrote on the social network X.

The head of state of Ukraine stated that continued US aid “helps save human lives from Russian terror” in Ukraine.

“It means that life will continue in our cities and that we will triumph over war,” he added.

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Zelensky argued that American assistance brings a just peace to Ukraine and restores global stability, leading to greater security and prosperity for all Americans and the free world.

“This sign of unwavering bipartisan support is much needed and appreciated,” said the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimytro Kuleba, on his X account.

“We anticipate further measures to counter Russian aggression, bring a just peace to Ukraine, and maintain the international order that the United States helped establish and that protects all Americans and other free nations,” he added.

AFP and EFE