Senate approves Ukraine aid, but bill faces GOP opposition in House

Amna Nawaz:

A big day on Capitol Hill, where, early this morning, U.S. senators passed a $95 billion plan to fund Ukraine, Israel and other foreign aid and where, tonight, the House of Representatives plans another attempt at impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Our Lisa Desjardins is there, and she joins me now.

So, Lisa, it's fair to say just a few days ago it wasn't even clear that this bill could get through the Senate. What happened?

Lisa Desjardins:

Right.

There was a rare weekend session after that tumultuous week last week and after overnight work that ended in a 6:00 a.m. vote this morning where overwhelmingly the Senate in fact did vote to pass this Ukraine and foreign aid bill.

Let's quickly remind folks what's in it. It's about a $95 billion bill. The largest amount in there is for Ukraine, $60 billion. Then there's also money in here for Israel, $14 billion, just under $10 billion for humanitarian aid. That does include for civilians in Gaza.

And there are sanctions and penalties for fentanyl for international operations and perhaps some countries if they're found to be complicit with fentanyl.

Now, here's what happened. In the end, this was a matter of senators who were veteran senators feeling like there was a complete need to support Ukraine. Let's look at who voted for this today.

The Republican senators, there were 22 of them. You can see, looking at those faces, that is a range, a full spectrum from very conservative to more in the middle for senators. Now, I want to look at this group a different way, another important way, the map of where these senators are from.

Look at that. Senators supporting this Ukraine foreign aid bill come from really kind of the middle of the country and the heart of the Republican kind of party, as well as MAGA country, Trump country. Many of these are big Trump states. In the end, what we saw here, 70 votes, Amna, for this bill, all of this the culmination of Zelenskyy coming, personally pleading with senators.

He was able to get enough, more than enough Republican votes in the Senate today.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Lisa, the bill now moves to the House. How strong is the opposition to that bill there? And how are President Biden and other supporters of the plan taking all that on?

Lisa Desjardins:

There is very strong opposition by some Republicans for a variety of reasons here in the House.

There is going to be quite a climb, and it will be an obstacle. Already, the White House, President Biden, aware of this, took this on today. And he said that funding Ukraine is an existential matter, not just for Ukraine, but for the world.

Joe Biden , President of the United States: If we don't stop Putin's appetite for power and control in Ukraine, he won't limit himself just to Ukraine, and the costs for America and our allies and partners is going to rise.

For Republicans in Congress who think they can oppose funding for Ukraine and not be held accountable, history is watching.

Lisa Desjardins:

Now, the opponents, however, some of them say that they want other things added to this bill.

But those who oppose the Ukraine aid specifically say that they think this is a misplaced priority. Here's Senator Rand Paul speaking late last night.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY):

The more accurate title for this bill would be Ukraine first, America last, because they're prioritizing the border of Ukraine over the border of the United States.

Lisa Desjardins:

Now, here's where it gets even more interesting and difficult.

Speaker Mike Johnson of the House has said today, and I have confirmed, that he will not bring up this Senate-passed bill, even though it got 70 votes, an overwhelming vote in the Senate. Why? He says it needs to have some kind of border elements in it. So that isn't really a critique of the Ukraine funding, Israel, any of it.

He, again, is trying to bring in that border element. And a reminder, Amna, I don't have to tell you it was House Republicans who originally said these bills must be linked, Ukraine and the border. But it was also Republicans who walked away from the compromise bill last week in the Senate.

Now here we are again with Republicans saying it has to be back in, a bit of whiplash here, and a difficult position, I think, for Ukraine allies navigating here.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa, given all that, is there any way that we can know what to expect in the House on this bill?

Lisa Desjardins:

Let me go through the options. There are options here.

The first one, as I mentioned, is that House Speaker Mike Johnson could bring this up for a vote. Let's rule that out. He has said he won't do that right now. Now, the next option is there could be what's called a discharge petition. If a majority of the House signs a petition, they could force a vote on this bill.

And I am told the votes are there for that right now. However, it's a question of timing whether and when that could happen, because here's the other option. The House could actually float a different bill, perhaps some other compromise on the border.

And tonight, Amna, I did speak to House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican. He said that's what he wants to do. He wants to move away from the House version of border security and come up with a new compromise. Is there time for that? Ukraine allies say no.

But that idea is putting a pause on the other mechanisms that could get this bill through the House. The votes are here. It's a question of how, if and when this Senate bill moves.

Amna Nawaz:

As we mentioned earlier, Lisa, the House Republicans are again tonight going to try to vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas. They tried and failed last week. What has changed since then?

Lisa Desjardins:

One thing has changed. Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the number two in the House, is expected to attend. He was out because he's been receiving cancer treatment last week. His vote could make the difference and should make the difference for House Republicans in order to get just enough to pass this impeachment resolution.

If there are no travel problems, we do expect the House to take that vote and move forward on impeachment tonight.

Amna Nawaz:

Lisa Desjardins on Capitol Hill tonight.

Lisa, thank you.

Lisa Desjardins:

You're welcome.