US Senate moves forward on $95B foreign aid package

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Senate cleared a series of procedural hurdles on Monday for a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

Senators voted 66-33, exceeding a 60-vote margin to send the bill to the Republican-led House.

House Speaker Mike Johnson released a statement on the Senate’s "failure to address the most critical aspect of national security supplemental legislation.”

"Now, in the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters. America deserves better than the Senate’s status quo," Johnson said on X.

The measure includes $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, while another $14 billion would go to support Israel and US military operations in the region and more than $8 billion would go to support US partners in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan. It also allots nearly $10 billion for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.

Voting no, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders said the bill provides Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu $10 billion more "in unrestricted military aid for his horrific war against the Palestinian people. That is unconscionable."

"Over and over again, I hear the President and Members of Congress express deep concern about Netanyahu and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza that he has caused. Then why are they supporting giving Netanyahu another $10 billion to continue his war against the Palestinian people?" he said on X.

President Joe Biden had called on Congress to pass the bill and get it to his desk "immediately," saying: "It’s time for Republicans in the Congress to show a little courage, to show a little spine to make it clear to the American people that you work for them and not for anyone else."