The U.S. Senate has passed the $40 billion Ukraine funding bill, with only 11 Republican Senators daring to vote against it. The bill will now advance to the White House for Joe Biden’s signature.
The bill that would give $40 billion to Ukraine – including $54 million for COVID spending, an unknown amount of money to the CIA, $900 million towards various “non-profit” groups, and other such expenses – was passed in the Senate by an overwhelming 86 to 11 vote.
All Democrat Senators voted for the bill, which CNN noted has been “a rare area of bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill,” with only 11 Senators voting against it.
Those Republican Senators were Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, John Boozman of Arkansas, Mike Braun of Indiana, Mike Crapo of Idaho, Bill Hagerty of Tenness, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Mike Lee of Utah, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama.
Senators Tom Cotton and Ted Cruz, known as being supporters of President Trump and his general foreign policy agenda, were two of the Republicans who voted in favour of sending $40 billion overseas. Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, along with Senators John Barasso, Susan Collins, and John Cornyn, visited Ukraine over the weekend, meeting President Zelensky.
11 Senators Voted No On The America Last $40 Billion Aid Package To Ukraine
All Republicans:
Blackburn
Boozman
Braun
Crapo
Hagerty
Hawley
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
Paul
Tuberville— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) May 19, 2022
Senator Rand Paul had previously blocked a measure to fast track the Ukraine bill to the Senate floor, after it passed in the House by 368 votes to 57 last week, slammed the bill as being a complete waste of tax dollars.
“If the defense of Ukraine is really in our national security interest, shouldn’t their gift come from our military budget?” Paul asked. He highlighted they could “easily pay for it by taxing every income taxpayer $500,” but suggested that Americans “might just decide they need the $500 more to pay for gas.”
If Congress really believed giving Ukraine $40B was in our national interest, they could easily pay for it by taxing every income taxpayer $500. My guess is they choose to borrow the $ bc Americans might just decide they need the $500 more to pay for gas. https://t.co/SWbFt2TELZ
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 19, 2022
Senator Josh Hawley, who also voted against the bill, said that $40 billion was an “astronomical” sum of money to be sending overseas. “I’m concerned that it shortchanges priorities here at home,” he told Fox News. “We could build a border wall twice over with this amount of money.”
Hawley further raised concerns that the huge spending represents a dangerous turn away from a nationalist foreign policy towards “unfocused globalism that unfortunately many in my party have embraced in the last couple of decades.”
That’s not isolationism. That’s nationalism. It’s about prioritizing American security and American interests
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) May 16, 2022
Hawley’s comments echo Representative Matt Gaetz, who argued that there is currently a “dangerous bipartisan consensus” in Congress that is pushing the country towards a war with Russia. “Unity always seems to come before the worst decisions we make,” he said. “Our drive to unity often over-runs our reason and discernment,” citing government responses to 9/11 and covid.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of the few Republicans in the House, along with Gaetz, who dared to oppose the measure when it hit the floor, accusing politicians of ignoring the multiple crises that were going on domestically in favour of focusing on Ukraine, which President Trump described as a “national disgrace.”
