02/05/2024

Senate Negotiators Release Sweeping Border and Military Aid Bill

It faces stiff opposition from allies of former President Trump

After months of rigorous talks, Senate negotiators on Sunday released a sweeping bipartisan border security deal that is aimed at discouraging migrants from crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The $118 billion national security legislation also includes billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific and humanitarian aid, but it has a politically perilous path ahead. Even before seeing its contents, lawmakers on both the right — and, to a lesser extent, the left — flanks in Congress have slammed the measure and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called it “dead on arrival” in the chamber. Former president Donald Trump, who has made the border a core campaign issue, opposes the deal.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced that he would hold the first procedural vote on the legislation on Wednesday, leaving the bill's boosters little time to sell its provisions. "Senators must shut out the noise from those who want this agreement to fail for their own political agendas," he said in a statement Sunday.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.