Senate advances $95B Ukraine and Israel aid package, setting stage for expedited vote

The Senate successfully advanced a $95 billion foreign aid package, which includes assistance for both Israel and Ukraine, on Tuesday by passing a motion to invoke cloture and end debate on the measures early.

The upper chamber cleared the procedural hurdle by a vote of 81 to 19 after the House passed the bills on Saturday, and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., promised to move quickly to get the package across the finish line.

NY HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT STEP DOWN OVER ANTI-ISRAEL ‘CHAOS’

Included in the package of bills is aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as a measure requiring TikTok to divest from Chinese-owned ByteDance, and the REPO Act, which would allow $5 billion in Russian assets held in U.S. banks to be transferred to Ukraine.

Schumer pleaded with fellow senators in remarks on the Senate floor ahead of the vote, telling them, "Let us not delay this. Let us not prolong this. Let us not keep our friends around the world waiting for a moment longer."

SCHUMER LOOKS TO EXPEDITE $95 BILLION ISRAEL, UKRAINE AID PACKAGE THROUGH SENATE

"Today, the Senate faces a test," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in his own floor remarks prior to the vote. "And we must not fail it."

He further called passage of the supplemental foreign aid bills "overdue." President Biden first made his request for additional aid to U.S. allies in October 2023.

BIDEN ADMIN NOTES 'URGENT' CONCERN OVER ISRAEL IN GAZA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT

The Senate initially passed a foreign aid package to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan in February, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not move quickly to bring the measure to the House floor for a vote. And when Johnson ultimately brought aid for a vote in