Senate stares down dayslong slog to get Ukraine aid passed

The Senate voted on Friday evening to start work on the defense supplemental spending package, teeing up a marathon of amendment votes in the coming days.

The upper chamber voted 64-19 on a motion to proceed to the $95 billion package, which includes aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Senators are facing a partial cancellation of their two-week recess as leadership works to pass the bill, which has been in the works for months and faces a difficult path forward in the House.

“Tonight’s vote keeps the process of passing this emergency national security package moving forward on the Senate floor,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Friday as the vote will keep the Senate in session during Super Bowl weekend.

“Nevertheless, the Senate will keep working on this bill until the job is done,” he added.

The emergency aid package cleared an important test vote on Thursday, with the Senate voting 67-32 to invoke cloture on the bill. That was after Schumer pulled the bipartisan border security deal from the text after Republicans revolted against the agreement.

Schumer was forced to keep that Thursday vote open for roughly four hours as the two sides attempted to reach an agreement on a set of amendments that would be considered before final passage, likely sometime next week. That followed a Wednesday vote on the bill with the border security legislation, which went down in a 49-50 vote, in effect killing any lingering hope that a bipartisan compromise on immigration could be salvaged.

Multiple Republicans have demanded votes on border amendments before the final passage of the current defense bill, underscoring how immigration continues to split Republicans even as leadership attempts to move past the failed deal.

FILE – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, is escorted by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., left, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as he comes to the Capitol in Washington, to issue a plea for Congress to break its deadlock and approve continued wartime funding for Ukraine, Dec. 12, 2023. Two months later, that aid request had still not been met but Schumer and McConnell are keeping the Senate in session on Super Bowl weekend to force funding for Ukraine and Israel. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Leadership was whipping votes on 11 amendments to the borderless legislation as of Friday evening, which could be voted on as soon as Sunday. The bill could be scheduled for a final floor vote as early as Monday or Tuesday.

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Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have worked for months on the legislation as part of their unified effort to aid Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s military invasion.

The Senate had initially planned on a two-week recess starting Friday, but consideration of the legislation is likely to continue into next week after Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced he would not consent to a time agreement that would expedite passage.