US Senate to vote on Ukraine aid bill without border concessions
Voting in the House of Representatives is still pending
The US Senate is currently voting on an alternative military aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – without the measures to close the border with Mexico that Republicans had demanded.
The vote has not yet concluded, but it has gathered the necessary 60 votes (eventually at least 67) to end debate. This threshold cannot be reached by Democratic votes.
In the Senate, the decision to end debate and put to a vote on most laws is made by a majority of 60 votes out of 100, giving the minority a powerful tool of influence.
To approve the foreign aid law itself, the Democrats will simply need a majority, which they have. It is not yet known when senators will vote on the law.
Senators from both parties spent several weeks agreeing on a compromise bill that tied aid to Ukraine to measures to tighten control over the US southern border.
But when former President Donald Trump opposed the bill, Republicans changed their position. On Wednesday, the bill finally failed in the Senate, and then Democrats put forward an alternative package without making concessions to Republicans related to the border.
If the new document passes the Senate, it will still need to be passed through the House of Representatives, where Trump's influence on Republicans is even stronger. However, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who is loyal to Trump, did not say earlier that the previous package was doomed.
Now senators have 30 hours of debate, during which they must initiate the passage of the law. If they fail to do so, a new procedural vote will be held in 30 hours.
If the bill passes the Senate, it will go to the House of Representatives.
According to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the bill's removal of the border issue, which is sensitive to Republicans, will allow it to pass the House.
Background. The day before, it became known that the Agreement on assistance to Ukraine in exchange for closing the border with Mexico did not pass the US Senate. Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also formally voted against it.
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