Aid to Ukraine (and Israel)

Not quite a surprise. The Senate refused to advance a funding bill for both Israel and Ukraine. This is the reporting via my local PBS station, via the Associated Press:

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked the advance of a $110 billion package of wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel as well as other national security priorities as they tried to force President Joe Biden to include changes to U.S. border policy.

The vote, a 49–51 tally that fell short of the Senate’s 60-vote threshold for moving ahead, came just hours after Biden said it was “stunning” that Congress has not yet approved tens of billions of dollars in military and economic assistance for Ukraine. His administration warned of dire consequences for Kyiv — and a “gift” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin — if lawmakers don’t act.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said Republicans who are insisting on border policy changes as a condition for voting for the aid “are playing chicken with our national security,” even as he expressed openness to some policy changes.

“Republicans in Congress are willing to give Putin the greatest gift he could hope for,” Biden said, saying American credibility was on the line both with other would-be aggressors and with its allies. “Any disruption in our ability to supply Ukraine clearly strengthens Putin’s position.”

This is a gift to Vladimir Putin and a betrayal, not just of Ukraine but of ourselves. This parallels more to the 1930s when migration was also a hot topic…