As the impasse continues on additional funding for Ukraine, Senate Republicans are warning the only way President Joe Biden will get another $61 billion for Ukraine is if he overrides Senate Democrats and agrees to border security reforms that substantially reduce the influx of migrants into the country. Senate Republicans now say it’s highly unlikely Congress will pass more funding for Ukraine before the end of the year as House Republicans plan to adjourn for the year at the end of this week, once they pass the annual defense policy bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) spoke with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) yesterday to urge him to keep the House in session for another week to give Senate negotiators more time to reach a deal. The long-running Senate negotiations over border security got ratcheted up to a higher level Tuesday afternoon when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Kentucky) and Senate Majority Leader Schumer’s staffs joined negotiators Senators James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), in the Capitol for a discussion with White House senior staff and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. The two sides still remain far apart with Republicans repeatedly returning to their initial demand of attaching key elements of the House-passed Secure the Border Act to Ukraine funding. Senate Democrats have repeatedly said the strict draconian Trump-era border policies in that bill are a “non-starter.”
For today, the Senate will resume consideration of the conference report to accompany H.R.2670, the National Defense Authorization Act, post-cloture.
The House is expected to consider H.R. 1147 – Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act of 2023. The House will also take up the following bills under suspension of the Rules: H. Res. __ – Condemning antisemitism on University campuses and the testimony of University Presidents in the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, H.R. 2365 – Dr. Emmanuel Bilirakis and Honorable Jennifer Wexton National Plan to End Parkinson’s Act and H. Res. 918 – Directing certain committees to continue their ongoing investigations as part of the existing House of Representatives inquiry into whether sufficient grounds exist for the House of Representatives to exercise its Constitutional power to impeach Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America.
