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Senate to hold procedural vote after Ukraine briefing descended into row over border crisis. If vote fails, negotiators will be back to square one
Good morning, US politics blog readers. The increasingly intense debate in Congress over approving more aid to Ukraine will come to something of a head today when the Senate holds a procedural vote the approve aid to both Kyiv and Israel. Republicans have vowed to block it, and have the numbers to do so, saying legislation that would implement stricter border policies must be passed as well. If the vote fails, negotiators will be back to square one, and there’s no telling how they will find their way out of this quagmire.
Approving military assistance to Israel is also a priority for both parties, but opposition to assisting Ukraine’s defense has grown among Republicans over the past months. Party chiefs like Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell continue to support its cause, as does House speaker Mike Johnson, who previously voted against helping Kyiv but appears to have reversed his position since getting the chamber’s top job. However the immigration proposals Republicans want passed are unpalatable to Democrats, such as restarting construction of Donald Trump’s border wall, or curbing who can apply for asylum. Emotions over these issues are apparently running high among senators – yesterday, several Republicans walked out of a briefing on Ukraine aid, upset that the Biden administration officials in attendance would not discuss border security. Perhaps there will be some progress in resolving this standoff today.
Joe Biden told donors, “If Trump wasn’t running, I’m not sure I’d be running” – a remark that raised eyebrows, considering the concerns about his age and persistently low approval ratings. But he wasn’t the only presidential candidate to make a questionable remark yesterday …
Donald Trump joked about how, if elected, he would not be a dictator “other than on day one”. The former president has proposed a range of anti-democratic policies if returned to office, including directing federal law enforcement agencies to retaliate against former officials who have turned against him.
The fourth debate of the Republican presidential primary will take place at 8pm eastern time in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Trump is not attending, but Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie are.
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