The Senate on Wednesday failed to pass a supplemental spending agreement that included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as well as an ambitious border security and immigration package that drew widespread opposition from conservative Republicans in both chambers since its release on Sunday.
The vote was 49-50. It needed 60 votes to pass. The vote went mostly along party lines except five Democratic no votes, and four Republicans voting yes. Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren voted against, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also voting against as a procedural move to allow it to be reconsidered at a future time.
Republicans voting yes were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, James Lankford, R-Okla., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah.
The package had been negotiated for months by Sens. Lankford, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Krysten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Biden administration officials — and it was unveiled on Sunday evening. The $118 billion package included $60 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, aid to Taiwan and humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and $20 billion in measures to tackle the historic and ongoing crisis at the southern border. It came in response to a White House supplemental funding request submitted to Congress late last year.
At the core of the border package was an “emergency border authority” to mandate Title 42-style expulsions of migrants when migration levels exceed 5,000 a day over a seven-day rolling average. It also would narrow asylum eligibility while expediting the process from years to months, provide immediate work permits for asylum seekers and fund a massive increase in staffing at the border and more immigration judges. It also includes increased numbers of green cards, extra funding for NGOs and cities receiving migrants, $650 million for border wall funding and $450 million for countries to take back and re-settle illegal immigrants.