Over the weekend, President Trump urged senators against approving more unrestricted U.S. foreign aid. On Sunday, over a dozen Republicans disregarded his concerns and advanced a measure to provide $95 billion in assistance to Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine.
The foreign aid supplemental funding package, which does not contain border requirements, was advanced to a next step in the legislative process by a vote of 67 to 27 in the Senate. Since leaders haven’t settled on border changes that the GOP has wanted, that is still not a certainty.
Republicans are holding out hope that the deal can be revised to incorporate improvements to border policies; they have stated that they would not support additional aid to Ukraine until this is done. A months-long bipartisan border-foreign aid agreement was thwarted last week by Republicans who claimed it did not restrict migration enough. Unanimous support from senators is still lacking, which makes it impossible to consider border changes.
“Mr. U.S. Senate, are you paying attention from now on?” Trump asked on Truth Social. “No money in the form of foreign aid should be given to any country unless it is done as a loan, not just a giveaway.”
After Trump urged Republicans to obstruct the bipartisan border-foreign aid plan, it also failed to pass. This time around, it seemed like many Republican senators weren’t worried about his opposition.
In reaction to Trump’s remarks, Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina stated, “I think that it’s unlikely that we lose any more [members]”. It’s more probable that we can attract more members, especially those who were simply concerned about giving their members an opportunity to submit modifications and have their voices heard.
With 18 votes in favour of moving the measure forward on Sunday, Republican support actually increased somewhat.
The increasing schism within his caucus was brought to light by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Sunday floor speech, in which he pushed for additional help while remaining steadfast in his support for international aid, especially for Ukraine.
Disregarding our global interests as a global power has apparently become rather trendy in some quarters. To lament the burdens of world leadership,” McConnell remarked. “This is mindless labour for mindless people. Not to mention the US Senate, where it has no business being.
At a speech on Saturday night, Trump said that Russia should “do whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member states that is not fulfilling its budget commitment, which was one of his remarks over the weekend that angered lawmakers. Senate Republicans had diverse reactions to the comments, as did Senate Democrats, who were understandably outraged by them.
Instead of pointing fingers at Trump’s administration, Tillis said, “shame on his briefers” for failing to clarify that the United States has pledged to aid any NATO nation attacked. This was in response to the president’s long-standing animosity against NATO.
Some were more critical than others. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said it was a “stupid thing to say.” Republican senator from Alaska Lisa Murkowski termed it “uncalled for.” Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas stated that he does not take Trump “literally.”
“None of us want to see a war in Europe and I don’t think he does either,” stated Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). “And it’s crystal clear that we will protect our NATO allies. The president definitely does not want us to get into a conflict with Russia.”
The foreign aid bill has delayed the Senate’s two-week vacation that was originally planned, but legislators are still hoping for a compromise on a timeline and quick voting on amendments. A number of them had domestic obligations and overseas CODELs planned.
Paul has already made it clear that he will oppose any efforts to expedite the bill’s approval unless the southern border is resolved first. However, it is within the power of a single senator to stop that from happening. Final passage cannot take place before Wednesday in the absence of a time agreement.
In his Sunday remarks, Paul emphasised the importance of securing our own border before moving any goods outside.