Senate Republicans dealt the final blow to the bipartisan security bill on Wednesday, after a test vote was far from getting the support necessary for it to move forward.
Concretely, the 49-50 vote was far from the 60 supports needed, and even further from getting the 25 votes Republican negotiators wanted to get.
Senator James Lankford, the leading Republican negotiator, said before the vote that this was a chance for the chamber
"It's an issue that's bedevilled, quite frankly, this body for decades. It's been three decades since we've passed anything into law to be able to change border security," he added.
Only four Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while six Democrats voted against it saying the bill went too far.
It is highly unlikely that lawmakers will go back to negotiating, as several high-ranking Republicans have rallied behind former President Donald Trump, who said that the arty shouldn't do any deal "at all, unless we get EVERYTHING."
President Joe Biden, on his end, said that the bill didn't move to the Senate floor for "a simple reason: Donald Trump." Because Donald Trump thinks it's bad for him politically."
Biden said that Trump would "rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it" and that he's been told that, during the past day, Trump has reached out to Republicans in Congress "and threaten them and try to intimidate them to vote against this proposal."
Moving forward, Senate Democrats removed the border part of the broader legislative package, attempting to vote on wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who was among the few Republicans who supported the border provisions, backed the modified initiative.
"There are other parts of this supplemental they're extremely important as well — Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan," McConnell said. "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, and it's up to Senator Schumer to decide how to repackage this, if in fact we don't go on to it."
The bill includes roughly $60 billion un Ukraine aid and some $17.6 billion for Israel, both aimed at helping the countries in their respective wars with Russia and Hamas. It is not clear whether the new plan will garner support from enough Republicans, many of whom still insist on focusing on the border before addressing any other issues.
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