Biden’s $95 billion foreign aid package clears Senate test vote, heads toward final passage

The Senate cleared a major hurdle Tuesday toward final passage of a $95 billion foreign aid package, teeing up a final vote later in the night.

The bill includes $61 billion for Ukraine, $23 billion for Israel and $8 billion for Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific nations to fend off China.

The House passed the package on Saturday, ending a seven-month impasse over sending more money to Ukraine’s war against Russian invaders.

---

---

Despite opposition from Senate Republicans to the $61 billion in Ukraine spending and from Democrats who wanted conditions attached to the $9 billion in humanitarian aid baked into the Israel aid measure, the Senate advanced the package on an 80-19 vote.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, applauded lawmakers for moving the long-overdue package forward. He said the foreign aid bill was one of the greatest achievements done by the Senate in “years, perhaps decades.”

“A lot of people inside and outside the Congress wanted this package to fail,” Mr. Schumer said. “But today, those in Congress who stand on the side of democracy are winning the day.”

The package also includes sanctions on Iran, Russia and China and uses seized Russian assets to pay for some of the Ukraine spending. It also would require TikTok’s parent company to sell the popular social media platform within a year or be banned in the U.S.

President Biden, who has been a leading advocate for more Ukraine aid, is eager to sign the bill into law.

The Senate’s vote to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold starts a 30-hour debate clock before the final vote. The vote could be expedited if all 100 senators agree to it.

Lawmakers who want to force votes on amendments, or to break apart the package into individual votes, are expected to take advantage of the debate time.

Republican Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah, and democratic socialist Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont are pushing for amendments to the package, but all of them are expected to fail.

Mr. Scott wants to kick the $95 billion package back to the Senate Appropriations Committee, which could effectively kill the bill. Mr. Lee wants to amend the package to ensure that the loan to Ukraine, which accounts for about 20% of the $61 billion bill, is paid back in full.

Mr. Sanders’ pair of amendments would block “unfettered aid” from fueling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s campaign against Hamas and would restore funding to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

Mr. Sanders railed against Mr. Netanyahu’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war. He warned that the $23 billion in Israel aid would continue to fund the “unbelievable carnage” in Gaza.

“Hamas started this war, and that is true,” Mr. Sanders said. “But this war stopped being about defending Israel a long time ago. What is going on now is the very destruction of the fabric of Palestinian life.”