Billions for Ukraine

Ukraine aid: Republicans are going round in circles

Trump recently torpedoed the package of measures.

(Bild: Getty Images)

22 Republicans in the US Senate have voted in favor of further aid payments to Ukraine and Israel. The package is to include 95 billion US dollars. The problem: their party colleagues in the House of Representatives want to block the urgently needed aid at the behest of Donald Trump.

After a long back and forth, there is a majority in the US Senate in favor of billions in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The bill was passed early Tuesday morning (local time) by 70 votes to 29 after 22 Republicans joined the Democrats to approve the aid.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi used Platform X to thank "every US senator who has supported continued assistance to Ukraine in our fight for freedom, democracy and the values we all hold dear." 

However, the Ukrainian military, which is suffering from an acute shortage of ammunition, cannot breathe a sigh of relief. The multi-billion dollar US aid package still has to be approved by the second chamber of the US Congress. The Republican speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, declared on Monday evening that his parliamentarians would not approve the current version of the Senate bill. The Trumpist does not even want to put the package on the agenda.

Republicans are going round in circles
The reasoning: The bill does not include "the most pressing issue facing our country" - securing the US border with Mexico. Yet it was the Republicans who recently caused a package of measures tailored to their wishes to fail at the behest of Donald Trump. 

"America deserves better than the status quo of the Senate," explained Johnson. His party colleagues in the Senate take a different view. "History will settle any score," said the chamber's chief Republican, Mitch McConnell, in a statement after the vote. "And today, when it came to the value of American leadership and strength, history will record that the Senate did not blink."

European aid significantly exceeds that of the US: 

Opposition Republicans have been blocking the release of billions more in aid to Ukraine for months. Many right-wing hardliners are against new aid for Ukraine. Trump recently caused an international outcry with his pro-Russian statements. The former US president does not want to protect defaulting NATO members from a Russian attack if he is re-elected. "No, I will not protect you," Trump declared at a rally in South Carolina on Saturday. He would even encourage Russia to do "whatever they want".

Package did not even make it to the House of Representatives
The ex-president also torpedoed the first version of the now slimmed-down legislative package. Last Wednesday, the old package of measures with a total volume of 118 billion dollars had already failed in the Senate, which included more money for securing the US border with Mexico in addition to aid for Ukraine and funds for Israel.

Late but still: Mitch McConnell, also known in Washington as "the turtle", has opposed Trump's anti-Ukraine line.

(Bild: Getty Images)

The linking of foreign aid with the issue of US border security was originally a concession made by the Democrats to the Republicans. However, Trump, who is seeking another term in office, had called for the bill to be rejected as he wants to use border policy as a campaign issue.

What happens now?
There is a way to bypass Johnson and bring the bill to a vote through a so-called "Discharge Petition". The Democrats need to collect at least four signatures from Republicans to do this, which would probably not happen before the end of the month given the congressional calendar.

In this way, 218 votes would have to be collected in order to get the billions in aid on the way. However, it is questionable whether all Democrats will go along with this. The left wing of the party in particular has a problem with the military concessions to Israel that are linked to the package.