Senate advances $95 billion Ukraine, Israel funding bill, faces uphill battle as budget talks loom

• The Senate advanced a motion to begin debate on a $95 billion package to fund Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which was a stripped-down version of the Senate's failed $118 billion bill.
• The vote allows debate to begin on the aid package, days before the Senate's two-week recess and with only a few weeks until government shutdown deadlines in early March.
• Ukraine funding disagreements caused a near government shutdown in September, and senators have been trying to negotiate a compromise in the months since.

Senators on Thursday advanced a foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, garnering momentum for a funding package that has been a persistent thorn in the side of federal budget talks over the past few months.

By a final tally of 67-32, senators voted to begin debate on a $95 billion aid package to fund Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian aid in war-torn regions. 

"This is a good first step," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor following the vote.

The bill still faces an uphill battle as senators now begin discussion on amendments with just a few days until they are supposed to break for two weeks.

If senators postpone talks for the two-week recess, the aid package will likely get sidelined as budget negotiations take the front seat, given looming government shutdown deadlines on March 1 and March 8.

The $95 billion bill was a stripped-down version of the Senate's $118 billion bipartisan funding package, which was released on Sunday. 

The initial, more expensive bill failed Wednesday in a 49-50 vote after days of Republican opposition to the border security provisions. 

Anticipating that the first vote would fail, Schumer devised a plan to force a vote on the new $95