With months of negotiations on the toxic border issue certain to end in failure Wednesday, Senate Republicans are indicating they might be willing to advance a more straightforward aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is expected to force votes on a foreign assistance package with border security policies Wednesday afternoon, which Republicans say they will reject. Then Schumer will move to a package without the border component — which will also include the Fend Off Fentanyl Act.
“First Republicans said they would only do Ukraine and Israel and humanitarian aid with border, then they said they would not do it with border. Well we’re gonna give them both options,” Schumer told reporters on Wednesday morning.
Ahead of those votes, the GOP is meeting to debate the path forward. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said he will vote to advance the borderless supplemental and predicts there will be 60 votes to move it.