While most Americans were sleeping, the U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion spending package that aims to assist Ukraine and Israel.
The bill has angered many Republican voters due to it notably having no border security provisions and for adding to the national debt.
The final vote was 70 to 29 with 22 Republicans voteing for the bill.
Democratic Senators Peter Welch and Jeff Merkley voted against the bill along with Independent Senator Bernie Sanders.
Here are the 22 Republicans who voted for the bill:
- Sen. John Boozman
- Sen. Shelley Moore Capito
- Sen. Bill Cassidy
- Sen. Susan Collins
- Sen. John Cornyn
- Sen. Kevin Cramer
- Sen. Mike Crapo
- Sen. Joni Ernst
- Sen. Chuck Grassley
- Sen. John Hoeven
- Sen. John Kennedy
- Sen. Mitch McConnell
- Sen. Jerry Moran
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski
- Sen. James Risch
- Sen. Mitt Romney
- Sen. Mike Rounds
- Sen. Dan Sullivan
- Sen. John Thune
- Sen.Thom Tillis
- Sen. Roger Wicker
- Sen. Todd Young
BREAKING: The senate just pulled an all nighter and officially passed their $95B foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan with nothing for the southern border
The final vote was 70-29 with 22 Republicans voting yes.
McConnell, Thune, Boozman, Capito, Cassidy, Collins,…
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 13, 2024
Here’s what Fox News reported:
The Senate passed a $95 billion national security supplemental package to assist Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific after a tedious procedural process that came to an end early Tuesday morning.
ADVERTISEMENTThe final vote was 70 to 29, with 22 Republicans voting yes. Democratic Sens. Peter Welch and Jeff Merkley, plus independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, voted no.
The supplemental package does not include any border security provisions and comes as the national debt soars above $34 trillion. Calls to offset the spending with cuts elsewhere went unheeded. Several Republicans spent hours — since the beginning of the weekend — collectively filibustering the package on the Senate floor. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, committed to filibustering the bill for four hours on Saturday and continued early Tuesday.
The package includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, $9 billion in humanitarian assistance for Gaza and nearly $5 billion for the Indo-Pacific. Democrats brought the package up for a vote after Republicans had blocked the $118 billion package that also included numerous border and immigration provisions — negotiated by a group of bipartisan senators and Biden officials — last Wednesday.
The U.S. has already spent more than $100 billion in aid for Ukraine since its war against Russia began in Feb. 2022.
🚨 BREAKING: The Senate has just PASSED a $95 BILLION foreign aid package for Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel.
22 Republicans voted in favor of the package.
DO YOU SUPPORT THIS?pic.twitter.com/WnxqtiNFzQ
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) February 13, 2024
Per Reuters:
The Democratic-led U.S. Senate on Tuesday passed a $95.34 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, although it faced an uncertain path ahead in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
The lawmakers approved the measure in a 70-29 vote that comfortably exceeded the chamber’s 60-vote threshold for passage and sent the legislation on to the House. Twenty-two Republicans joined most Democrats to support the bill.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue“It’s certainly been years, perhaps decades, since the Senate has passed a bill that so greatly impacts not just our national security, not just the security of our allies, but the security of Western democracy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in the Senate shortly after the predawn vote.
Schumer told a news conference later on Tuesday he was confident the bill would pass the House with support from both parties if Republican Speaker Mike Johnson would allow a vote
NOTE: In passing the $95.3 billion foreign aid bill, 22 Republican senators supported it, with 3 Democratic senators opposing, and 5 Republicans changing their initial NO votes to YES.
Republican Senators Voting YES (22):
Wicker
Tillis
Thune
Sullivan
Rounds
Romney
Risch… pic.twitter.com/U2dP5MDwb2— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 13, 2024
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