As the Senate prepared to vote on a national security package, which included aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, President Joe Biden delivered brief remarks from the White House about the importance of the legislation.
“This cannot wait. … It’s as simple as that,” the Democrat said. “Frankly, I think it’s stunning that we’ve gotten to this point in the first place.” Biden added that congressional Republicans appeared willing to give Russia’s Vladimir Putin “the greatest gift he could hope for.”
Roughly five hours later, GOP senators nevertheless followed through on their threats. NBC News reported:
The Senate failed Wednesday to begin debate on President Joe Biden’s national security package, with Republicans unifying to filibuster it due to a lack of immigration limits that they have demanded be a condition for winning their support.
The final tally was 49-51, with every Senate Republican voting in lockstep. They were joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, who wants new restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel. (The threshold for success on this vote was 60, not 50, so even if the Vermont independent had voted with Democrats, the measure would’ve fallen far short.)
This is not an instance in which the GOP minority opposes security aid to U.S. allies abroad. On the contrary, Senate Republican leaders have voiced public support for the underlying goals of the national security package.
But because GOP senators realize this is a life-or-death issue, the party is trying to leverage the desperate circumstances for an unrelated goal: Republicans have said that unless Democrats accept far-right changes to U.S. asylum and parole laws, the GOP will simply let our allies abroad suffer. If that ends up helping the Kremlin, it’s a price Republicans are apparently prepared to pay.
In this instance, I’m not just referring to a handful of extremists: Literally every GOP senator, including the party’s ostensible “moderates,” are going along with this scheme….
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