Senate expected to pass $95B in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel

(NewsNation) — A $95 billion aid foreign aid package is headed for a Senate vote Tuesday after months of delays and debates over how involved the U.S. should be in international conflicts.

The Senate is expected to vote in favor of the four bills that provide aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as a deal that could lead to a potential TikTok ban. If passed by the Senate, the legislation will then go to President Joe Biden’s desk.

This comes after the House passed the aid package with an overwhelming vote Saturday, a rare moment of bipartisanship after months of hard-right resistance over renewed American support for repelling Russia’s invasion.

What is the Senate voting on?

The deal lays out $26 billion for Israel, $61 billion for Ukraine and $8 billion for Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific allies.

The aid to Ukraine comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin escalates attacks against the war-torn country. Ukrainian soldiers, who have struggled to hold the front lines, will be reinforced with weapons and the country will receive more than $9 billion in economic assistance in the form of “forgivable loans.”

Israel would receive $26 billion, about $4 billion of which would be dedicated to replenishing Israel’s missile defense systems. Meanwhile, $9 billion of the total would go towards humanitarian assistance in Gaza as the people face famine and devastation.

In the Indo-Pacific region, more than $3.3 billion would go toward submarine infrastructure and development, with an additional $1.9 billion to replenish U.S. weapons provided to Taiwan and other regional allies.

The aid package also includes a possible ban on TikTok that would require ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, to divest in the app within a year. The company would have to sell the app or risk it being banned entirely in the U.S. 

Foreign aid delay

The GOP-controlled House struggled for months over what to do, first demanding that any assistance for Ukraine be tied to policy changes at the U.S.-Mexico border, only to immediately reject a bipartisan Senate offer along those very lines.

Reaching this point has been a substantial effort for Johnson that has tested both his resolve and his support among Republicans. Johnson faces a small but growing number now openly urging his removal from the speaker’s office. Yet congressional leaders cast the votes as a turning point in history — an urgent sacrifice as U.S. allies are beleaguered by wars and threats from foreign adversaries.

Opponents, particularly the hard-right Republicans from Johnson’s majority, argued that the U.S. should focus on the home front, addressing domestic border security and the nation’s rising debt load.

They warned against spending more money, which largely flows to American defense manufacturers, to produce weaponry used overseas.

Possible obstacles in the Senate

Opening the Senate Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the coming vote was “six months in the making” and while it has widespread bipartisan support, it could still face some opposition and other obstacles.

Opponents in the Senate, like the House, are also likely to include some Democratic senators opposed to aiding Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has bombarded Gaza and killed thousands of civilians.

Vermont senators Bernie Sanders, an independent, and Peter Welch, a Democrat, both voted against the package in February.

“This bill provides Netanyahu $10 billion more in unrestricted military aid for his horrific war against the Palestinian people,” Sanders said on X just before that vote. “That is unconscionable.”