'Unified message of support' - US Senate approves $93.5 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan in bipartisan vote

An aid package of almost $95 billion was passed by the United States Senate on Tuesday night, following the House of Representatives, which approved its version of the package by a simple majority vote over the weekend.

The aid package devotes the majority of its spending – about $60 billion – to Ukraine. Israel will receive roughly $26 billion, and the remainder is designed to counter Chinese threats in the Indo-Pacific and related to Taiwan. 

However, of the $26 billion in Israeli aid, $2 billion will be directed toward humanitarian efforts in Gaza.

Senate Democrats and Republicans decided to combine the aid for Ukraine and Israel into a single package, due to concerns that separating them could cause further delays in assistance to both countries.

The office of U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement shortly after the vote, saying he would sign the bill into law and “address the American people as soon as it reaches my desk tomorrow so we can begin sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week.” 

The aid package has faced significant opposition, primarily from Republicans who have been against providing additional funding for Ukraine over the past few months. In the House of Representatives vote over the weekend, all opposing votes came from Republican representatives, many of whom are opposed to spending more money on Ukraine. 

After the Senate vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), said the vote “sends a unified message to the entire world - America will always defend democracy in its hour of need.” 

Schumer also said the bill was in America’s long-term security interests.

“The consequences for America’s long-term security will be profound if Putin is allowed to seize the territory of a neighboring sovereign nation, if the Chinese Communist Party is allowed to consume the Indo-Pacific, and if Iran is allowed to dominate the Middle East,” Schumer said.

“If America were to stand by and do nothing, it is the United States that would suffer the consequences most of all," he added/

One of the Republican senators who changed his vote, Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, said he did so because the majority of the aid package would be spent on U.S. defense companies in America.

“Seventy-five percent of the bill, the total funding, stays within the United States,” Sen. Mullin told Newsmax. “This goes to our defense industry; this goes to replenishing our munitions.” 

However, there are signs of growing discontent among Republicans regarding the amount of foreign aid.

Republican Ohio Senator J.D. Vance said: The United States is spread too thin” and stated that the opposition to such funding is on the rise.