On Tuesday, the US Senate passed a substantial aid package of $95bn (€88bn) with a commanding majority. This legislative action will direct funds to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, demonstrating bipartisan support for these nations. The proposal will now proceed to President Joe Biden for his agreement.
Earlier, the Senate had efficiently negotiated an important procedural obstacle, and the advancement of this bill was celebrated by the Senate Majority Leader as a major achievement. Chuck Schumer, in his Tuesday afternoon address to the Senate, proudly proclaimed America’s commitment to defending democracy, asserting that the country will stand firm against autocratic leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Following numerous setbacks and delays, the House approved the legislative packages last week, which aimed to channel funds swiftly to ally nations. The collective decision also includes a conservative suggestion that may lead to a nationwide ban on the social media platform, TikTok. These individual bills were consolidated into a single legislative package which gained Senate approval on Tuesday.
The new law includes allocations of $60.8bn for Ukraine military support in face of Russian invasion threats, $26.3bn directed towards Israel and aid for civilians in war-torn regions like Gaza, and $8.1bn for reinforcing the Indo-Pacific region’s defences against China.
On a call made the previous day, President Biden assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of speedy aid dispatch, including crucial military equipment, following the Senate’s approval.
To secure support from Republicans, the GOP-controlled House agreed to a clause that would see TikTok banned in the US unless its parent company, which is Chinese-owned, withdraws from the platform within a year.
The foreign aid section of the bill echoes a previously passed Senate legislation in February. An added condition to the bill is the insistence for the US president to request a repayment of around $10bn in ‘forgivable loans’ as economic aid from Kyiv, an idea conceived by former president Donald Trump who was originally against providing assistance to Ukraine.
Even though the latest foreign aid package is largely similar to the one approved by the Senate in February, some Republican senators who initially opposed it, changed their stance and ratified it on Tuesday. This approval marks an end to a harrowing journey for the aid package on Capitol Hill that kickstarted last year based on a request made by the White House for additional funding for Ukraine and Israel, a request made in response to the cross-border assault by Hamas on October 7th.
Despite wide-ranging backing from congress, the proposal was delayed instantly because a contingent of Republicans grew doubtful of American participation in global complications and refrained from sending extra aid to Ukraine. Such conservatives demanded that any monetary support to overseas countries must be combined with legislation targeted at reducing the influx of immigrants at the US-Mexico border.
In the wake of the fall of a bipartisan border and national defence law agreed upon in the Senate, Mr Schumer went ahead to call for a vote on the foreign aid Bill. It was passed in February with an overwhelming majority (70-29), but lacked a foreseeable way forward in the Republican-led House, where the recently appointed speaker, Mike Johnson, procrastinated while Ukraine experienced military setbacks.
Persuasive requests from President Biden, leaders of congress and European heads of state, combined with high-profile intelligence briefings and prayer, eventually compelled Mr Johnson to act, a decision that could potentially threaten his role. “Our actions make history,” stated Mr Johnson emotionally at a press conference last week, following the approval of the aid package by a cross-party coalition of legislators with a decisive majority.
Mr Schumer complimented Mr Johnson on Tuesday by declaring he “rose to the moment”. Mr Schumer also praised Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, claiming that they had worked unified and congenially to ensure the Bill’s passage.
Mitch McConnell, who made it his goal to fund Ukraine’s military operations as his legacy, recently declared his intention to step down from his long-standing role as Senate Republican leader. On Tuesday, McConnell took to the Senate floor to openly challenge the increasingly popular “America first” isolationist approach endorsed by Trump and his Congressional devotees. “The steps taken today are long overdue, but our work has just begun,” McConnell emphasized, adding that rebuilding trust in American determination is a gradual process and replenishing the democracy’s arsenal doesn’t magically happen overnight.