With the Thanksgiving holiday weekend coming to an end, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced his plan for a quick vote on President Joe Biden’s request for roughly $106 billion in funds for Israel, Ukraine, and other national security priorities.
The top Senate Democrat said in a “Dear Colleague” letter on Sunday that he aims to bring the “supplemental” package that also includes money for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, among other things, to the floor “as soon as the week of December 4th.”
Schumer claimed the “biggest holdup” is the “insistence” by Republicans to link aid to Ukraine, which is fighting against Russian invaders, to “partisan” U.S. border security policy. “This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities,” Schumer said, adding that “hard-right demands” — such as those seen in the border security bill passed by the House earlier this year — “jeopardize” the entire package.
The Senate roadmap is sure to set up a clash with the GOP-led House after it passed legislation to offset $14.3 billion in aid for Israel in its war with Hamas by slashing the same amount of funds meant for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). That measure passed with bipartisan support, but Schumer responded by saying the upper chamber would not even consider the proposal.
And though Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has signaled openness to funding other national security concerns raised by the Biden administration, including more funds for the Ukraine defense effort and border security, he stressed they must be considered in the “proper order” as the House strives to be “good stewards of the taxpayers’ resources” under his watch.
In his letter, Schumer shared additional priorities for the Democrat-controlled Senate, including passing the National Defense Authorization Act before the end of 2023, negotiating with the House on full-year spending bills ahead of two government shutdown deadlines early next year, and setting up a classified briefing to update senators on the situation in Ukraine.
The New York Democrat also declared that he will have the full Senate consider a resolution passed by the Rules Committee to break Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) months-long “hold” on the Senate’s ability to quickly approve U.S. military nominees in protest against a Pentagon abortion policy.
“Senators should expect long days and nights, and potentially weekends in December,” Schumer said in ending his letter.