Senate Republicans Block Ukraine Aid, Border Security Package They'd Demanded
HuffPost
Also in jeopardy Wednesday was a U.S. aid package for Ukraine and Israel that omitted tougher border measures sought by the GOP.
WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked legislation that paired tougher border policy with more U.S. aid to Ukraine and Israel, just days after it was unveiled by a bipartisan group of senators who spent months negotiating with the backing of the GOP.
The motion fell well short of the 60 votes needed to advance, with only four Republican senators voting with Democrats to open debate on the bill: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, and James Lankford of Oklahoma.
For months, Senate Republicans demanded border policy changes to solve what they called a migrant crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border in exchange for passage of more U.S. aid to Ukraine. But they buckled and came out against the bill this week after weeks of heavy pressure from former President Donald Trump and his allies.
Lankford, the GOP author of the bill, said Wednesday that an unnamed media personality even promised to “destroy” him for seeking a bipartisan compromise on immigration.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), who helped negotiate the package, could barely contain her anger at her GOP colleagues who voted to filibuster the bill Wednesday.
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