The Senate passed a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine on Thursday, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk shortly before he leaves on a foreign trip.
The bill – termed the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 – passed 86-11 and would provide Ukraine with $20.1 billion in direct military aid, which will be used to obtain U.S.-made weapons systems such as Patriot and Stinger surface-to-air missiles, and Javelin anti-tank missiles, used to destroy Russian armored columns and military aircraft. It also provides $8 billion in economic assistance, $5 billion in food aid, and $1 billion to support refugees who have fled country, which the U.N. estimates to be over six million people.
All eleven “no” votes were cast by Republicans, who, like their fellow dissenters in the House, argued that the bill was wasteful and that the money would be better spent on domestic issues like border security. Senators Blackburn (Tenn.), Boozman (Ark.), Braun (Ind.), Crapo (Idaho), Hagerty (Tenn.), Hawley (Mo.), Lee (Utah), Lummis (Wyo.), Marshall (Kan.), Paul (Ky.), and Tuberville (Ala.) voted against the bill.
The bill also includes appropriations for the U.S. military, to cover expenses such as the procurement of equipment (e.g., missiles and vehicles) and hardship pay for personnel deployed in response to the war. The U.S. is not engaged in combat with Russia, but NATO forces have been on high alert since the war began. In February, Biden ordered over 10,000 U.S. troops to Europe, and the U.S. Air Force has been leading NATO air surveillance of the war to monitor its progress.
The bill’s total figure of $40 billion exceeds the $33 billion that Biden had requested of Congress for the package. It would bring the total amount of aid approved for Ukraine since its war with Russia began to $53.7 billion, and makes the country the top recipient of U.S. military aid in the world. Much of the money previously appropriated is yet to be spent.
Support for the bill was broadly bipartisan, though its passage was highly controversial in Washington due to vocal opposition by minorities in both chambers of Congress.
It passed the House on May 10 by a vote of 368-57, with all “no” votes coming from Republicans. They had argued that the bill was akin to a “blank check” for Ukraine, and was unnecessary, given that previous aid had not been spent. Among the “no” votes were populist lawmakers and allies of former president Donald Trump, including Matt Gaetz (Florida), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Louis Gohmert (Texas), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Georgia), and Madison Cawthorn (N.C.). It also included deficit hawks like Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. However, most of the House GOP Caucus supported the bill, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.).
Senator Rand Paul (R., K.Y.) denied unanimous consent for the bill to proceed, which delayed its passage by a week as the chamber proceeded through rules for its normal consideration. Paul was the bill’s biggest opponent on Capitol Hill, claiming that it would needlessly add to the U.S. budget deficit and national debt and was geopolitically unnecessary. “To borrow the money from China simply to send it to Ukraine makes no sense and makes us weaker not stronger,” he said on the Senate floor, and called the bill part of “a sea of fiscal madness.”
Democrats rejected Paul’s offer to grant unanimous consent provided the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction – a watchdog created to monitor corruption and waste in U.S. aid provided to Afghanistan – was given oversight over Ukraine-bound aid. Paul was widely criticized by senators across the aisle for his move, with both party leaders in the Senate – Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., K.Y.) – calling his actions “repugnant” and “frivolous.”
Biden is expected to sign the bill immediately before he leaves for a trip to Asia on Thursday night. It’s passage also followed the Senate’s confirmation of Bridget A. Brink to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, whose responsibility it will be to coordinate the delivery of aid.