US Senate approves aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, sending it to Biden’s desk

“Our allies around the world have been watching Congress for the last six months and wondering the same thing: When it matters most, will America summon the strength to come together, overcome the centrifugal pull of partisanship and meet the magnitude of the moment?” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, said Tuesday.

“Tonight, under the watchful eye of history, the Senate answers this question with a thunderous and resounding ‘yes.’”

In a statement minutes after the vote, Biden said he would sign the bill into law “and address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week.

“Congress has passed my legislation to strengthen our national security and send a message to the world about the power of American leadership: We stand resolutely for democracy and freedom, and against tyranny and oppression,” he said.

The House passed the package Saturday in four pieces: a measure for each of the three US allies and another meant to sweeten the deal for conservatives that includes a provision that could result in a nationwide ban of TikTok. It sent the legislation to the Senate as a single package that required only one up-or-down vote to pass.

Facing vehement opposition from his right flank to aiding Ukraine, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., structured the legislation that way in the House to capture different coalitions of support without allowing opposition to any one element to defeat the whole thing. The majority of House Republicans opposed the aid for Ukraine.

The components of the bill are nearly identical to one that passed the Senate with bipartisan support in February. It includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including the Gaza Strip; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.

In addition to the package of sweeteners, which also includes new rounds of sanctions on Iranian and Russian officials, the House added provisions to direct the president to seek repayment from the Ukrainian government of $10 billion in economic assistance. That was a nod to a call by former President Donald Trump to make any further aid to Ukraine a loan. But the bill allows the president to forgive those loans starting in 2026.

Nine Republicans who opposed the Senate-passed aid legislation in February supported the bill this time. When Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma changed his vote Tuesday, this time agreeing to advance the legislation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gave him a thumbs-up on the Senate floor.

“Seventy-five percent of the bill, the total funding, stays within the United States,” Mullin said on Newsmax, explaining his support for the bill. “That’s what a lot of people don’t realize. This goes to our defense industry; this goes to replenishing our munitions.”

Fifteen hard-right Republican senators who oppose aid to Ukraine voted against the legislation.

One of them, Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., argued that Congress was “rushing to further bankroll the waging of a war that has zero chance of a positive outcome.”