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February 7, 2024, 11:55 a.m. ET
Important things to know about today’s Senate vote on border deal and foreign aid package
From CNN’s Claire Foran, Ted Barrett, Morgan Rimmer and Manu Raju
U.S. Capitol in January.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Senate Republicans expected to go on the offensive Wednesday’s vote will include a major bipartisan border deal and a foreign aid package that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel, amid a barrage of attacks on the bill by former President Donald Trump and top House Republicans.
Why this is important: If the vote fails, Senate Republicans plan to enact restrictive border measures, and one Republican, James Lankford of Oklahoma, one of the most conservative senators in the House, plans to enact restrictive border measures. That would amount to a surprising rebuke from Senate Republicans for a partially drafted agreement. Republicans had called for border security to be included in the bill, but have now rejected the deal under pressure from President Trump, who has made the border issue a central issue of his presidential campaign.
The expected outcome would jeopardize aid to key U.S. allies, Ukraine and Israel, at a critical time. The vote will put pressure on lawmakers to pass foreign aid on their own without border provisions, but the outlook is uncertain as some Republicans oppose further aid to Ukraine. .
The Senate is scheduled to take its first procedural vote on Wednesday, with 60 votes needed to pass the bill. It is expected that there will be defectors on both sides of the aisle. After the deal was announced Sunday evening, there was a flurry of opposition from Republicans to the deal.
If Republicans block the big package as expected, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to force a procedural vote on emergency aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan and scrap a new border agreement, according to Democratic aides. That’s what it means.
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