Republican lawmakers in the Washington Senate rejected a funding package that would have ensured continued military aid to Ukraine and Israel, even though it was negotiated with Democratic senators by their own colleagues in the upper house of Congress, Reuters and CNN reported.

Only 4 of 49 Republican senators voted for the package, proposed last October by the White House and debated by a bipartisan team of senators for months.

“Something [colegi] they told me very clearly that they had political differences on the bill. They say it’s wrong to solve the problem, to let the presidential election solve the problem,” said Sen. James Lankford, the top Republican in negotiations on a bill that would provide funding for Ukraine, Israel and US border security.

Many Republican lawmakers accuse the provisions related to migration and stopping fraudulent border crossings as too weak and will not solve the problems on the southern border of the United States. But the project was supported by trade union organizations of the border police.

The Republican Party made the continuation of aid to Ukraine dependent on ensuring the security of the US southern border

Speaking of Republican senators changing their minds on a package negotiated by their own party, Sen. Joe Manchin, one of the most conservative Democratic lawmakers, said it was “absolutely unheard of.”

He added that the provisions of the package would lead to the most extensive reform of the immigration system in recent years and to the real security of the US border with Mexico, recalling in this regard that 18,000 American border guards have expressed their support for this adoption.

The package provides for total financing of about 118 billion dollars, of which more than 60 billion will go to Ukraine, 20 billion will go to protect the US border, the rest will go to help Israel and other minor projects.

Independent Sen. Kirsten Sinema, one of the package’s negotiators, said she was “shocked” that it has now been rejected by Republican lawmakers in the upper house of Congress, given that it was the Republican Party that made aid to Ukraine contingent on resolving the migration crisis. the southern border of the USA.

Analysts note that the change in position would have occurred due to pressure from former President Donald Trump, who once again made the border situation one of the main topics of his election campaign.

Added to this is the fact that the pro-Trump wing of the Republican Party is increasingly calling for continued aid to Ukraine.

Republicans in the Senate, accused of pre-election games in favor of Donald Trump

“We all know what is happening here. Donald Trump would rather continue the chaos at the border to use it in the election campaign, instead of allowing the Senate to do its job and fix the situation,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the vote.

“And instead of standing up to Donald Trump, Senate Republicans are willing to destroy our best chance to fix the border,” he said.

A new vote could be set for Thursday, but it’s unclear how likely the amendments agreed by the leaders of the two parties of the US political duopoly will be able to overcome opposition from Republican lawmakers, given that the provisions of the tabled package have already been debated for months.

In addition, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the US legislature, have already said unequivocally that the bill will be “dead” by the time it comes to them for a vote.

Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican senators, tried to offer a possible solution, saying that the funding package could eventually be split into two: one for border security and one to provide foreign funding for America’s partners.

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