Senate to vote on Plan B: Ukraine funding without border security

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) plans to strip the bipartisan border security deal from the emergency defense spending bill and bring a package funding the war in Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific region and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and Gaza to the Senate floor Wednesday.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Tuesday suggested moving funding for Ukraine and Israel separately from the border security provisions after a majority of Senate Republicans balked at the bipartisan border security deal negotiated by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).

Schumer still plans to hold a procedural vote on proceeding to the Ukraine and Israel funding package that includes border security reforms. That way, he can give vulnerable Democratic colleagues a chance to vote for it and argue on the campaign trail that they tried to address the crisis at the border.

But Republicans are expected to block that package — and then, Schumer said he will move to Plan B.

“Schumer has told Senate Dems he is planning to put the negotiated supplemental on the floor without the border security piece after the expected failed cloture vote Wednesday,” a Senate Democratic aide said.

“Schumer told members of his caucus and the White House last week that if the Republicans scuttled the bipartisan border and supplemental agreement, he had prepared a plan to use the motion to reconsider to force Republicans to vote on the supplemental without border [reforms],” the aide added.

The motion to reconsider would allow Schumer to immediately require senators to vote a second time on a legislative vehicle to move funding for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific.

The first time senators will vote on ending debate to move to the legislative vehicle, it will be with the understanding that the Ukraine funding package would include border security reforms.

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Most Republicans will vote to block that bill from moving forward.

Then, Schumer will hold a second vote on proceeding to the same legislative vehicle, but this time with the understanding it will be used to carry funding for Ukraine, Israel and other foreign assistance priorities but without the negotiated border security reforms.

“It has everything that we had in the original supplemental negotiations but without border, although we do have the fentanyl issue in. That’s not a border issue but that is very, very important,” he said, referring to the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, which would require President Biden to sanction criminal organization that traffic fentanyl.

Schumer said he expects “overwhelming support” for the legislation among Democrats but declined to comment on how many Republicans are likely to vote for it.

“Ask the Republicans,” he said.

McConnell on Tuesday urged his colleagues to move forward with funding for Ukraine and Israel without border security reforms.

“There are other parts of this supplemental that are extremely important as well: Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan. We still in my view ought to tackle the rest of it because it’s important, not that the border isn’t important but we can’t get an outcome. So that’s where I think we ought to head,” he said.

The modified emergency defense spending bill is already drawing criticism from conservatives.

Heritage Action announced Wednesday morning it would oppose the motions to proceed to a Ukraine and Israel funding package with border security reforms and to a foreign aid package without the border security deal.

“Our principled opposition will not change if Chuck Schumer strips out the ‘border security’ deal that was proven so unserious it collapsed in 48 hours,” said Ryan Walker, the executive vice president of Heritage Action.

Walker announced the group would classify the votes on the motions to proceed a “Key Votes.”

Enough Republicans are expected to vote to move this bill. It needs 60 votes to advance.

Schumer set up this maneuver last week by saying he would file cloture for the vehicle Monday instead of using the motion to reconsider from December, giving him multiple options to move forward.

If the carefully orchestrated plan goes awry, then Senate Republicans could potentially vote twice in one day to block the defense supplemental, which the Democratic aide called “an embarrassing prospect.”

Updated at 11:46 a.m.