US Senate to consider bill on aid for Ukraine without migration reform

The US Senate will once again consider a "clear" bill on aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan – without the migration reform – on 8 February.

Source: Oksana Markarova, Ukrainian ambassador in the US; The New York Times

Details: Markarova stated that a large package (Ukraine/Israel/Taiwan/migration reform), as expected, had not been supported due to lack of consensus on the migration reform the negotiators have been working on during the last few months.

Quote: "This is why the text of the document "for replacement" was published by the assignation committee before the voting even started. The new document provides exclusively for the international aid for Ukraine (US$60.06 bn), Israel and Taiwan."

Details: Markarova explained that the Senate has supported a procedural decision on the review of the voting results needed to submit the issue of the end of debates and the consideration of a "clear" bill on the international US aid without the migration reform for voting. It will take 60 votes to pass.

Quote: "The evening meeting (of the US Senate – ed.) is closed, Leader of the Majority Chuck Schumer reported that he intends to submit the issue of halting the debates concerning the bill on international US aid, which includes Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific states, for voting, at 12:00 Washington time."

Updated: NYT notes that The Senate bogged down on Wednesday over a bill to send tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine and Israel after Senate Republicans blocked a compromise that would have paired the aid with stringent border security measures, adjourning without moving forward on the emergency national security spending package.

Democrat Chuck Schumer hoped for a quick voting on 7 February for what he called his "plan B" for restoring the aid package after the failure to reach an agreement concerning the border.

But the working process reached a stalemate since the Republicans in the Senate were in no hurry to vote.

Quote: "That plan, hashed out over four months of painstaking bipartisan negotiations, haemorrhaged Republican support after Mr. Trump vocally opposed it.

It failed on a 50-to-49 vote, falling short of the 60 votes it would have needed to advance, as all but four Republicans voted to reject it."

Details: After 19:00, Schumer said the Senate was recessing to "give our Republican colleagues the night to figure themselves out."

The members of both parties which backed this package warned that the fate of Eastern Europe, as well as the reputation of the US on the international arena will hang on a thread if the Congress is not able to advance.

Background: The US Senate did not receive enough votes for a procedural vote on a bill to strengthen migration policy, which included additional funds for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

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