U.S. lawmakers will likely work into the Christmas holiday next week trying to negotiate a deal on border security in return for Republican votes to send more aid to Ukraine.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Tuesday that while he is optimistic about the progress of negotiations, lawmakers need more time.
“The details in this matter immensely, because this is not a topic that Congress has tackled in many years. We know that this is going to be not easy to do,” said the Senate’s top Democrat. “But we know, too, that we must get it done. And while we've made important progress over the past week on border security, everyone agrees on both sides that it takes more time.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also acknowledged the difficulties, noting the last major piece of legislation on immigration and border security became law in the late 1980s.
“We haven't passed a significant immigration bill since Reagan’s second term. This is not easy. But we're working hard to get an outcome because the country needs it, and the country needs it soon,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday.
The United States has already dedicated more than $100 billion to arming and supporting Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve another $60 billion. However, Republicans in Congress have become increasingly skeptical about the need to continue underwriting Ukraine's defense.
Aid tied to immigration policy
In recent weeks, Republicans in the Senate have conditioned approval of any additional money for Ukraine on the simultaneous strengthening of immigration rules aimed at reducing the number of people entering the U.S. at its southern border and expelling some who are already in the country.
FILE - Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Nov. 14, 2023.
A small group of lawmakers from the two parties, along with representatives from the Biden administration, are trying to hammer out an agreement that can gain enough support from both sides to protect it from various legislative pitfalls.
Senator Chris Murphy — one of the lead negotiators on the Democratic side — signaled that negotiations could continue into next week, saying he was looking forward to a day-and-a-half break for Christmas to be with his family.
The U.S. Senate had been scheduled to hold its last day in session for this year last Thursday but adjusted the schedule to allow time for further negotiations. The House of Representatives went out of session for the rest of the year but could be called back to vote if a deal is reached.
Even if an agreement passes in the Senate, it might not survive in the House, where Republicans hold a very narrow majority. A significant group of Republican House members opposes additional aid to Ukraine, and the party recently voted out a speaker who partnered with Democrats to pass legislation.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who took over after predecessor Kevin McCarthy was ousted, has said that more funding for the border is essential to any Ukrainian aid package; however, he also wants more conditions placed on the aid.
"What the Biden administration seems to be asking for is billions of additional dollars with no appropriate oversight, no clear strategy to win, and none of the answers that I think the American people are owed," he said last week.
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin attends his annual news conference in Moscow on Dec. 14, 2023.
Reaction from Russia and Ukraine
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly celebrated the fact that Ukraine appears to be losing support in the West.
"Ukraine today produces nearly nothing; they are trying to preserve something, but they don't produce practically anything themselves and bring everything in for free," he said, according to The Associated Press. "But the freebies may end at some point, and apparently it's coming to an end little by little."
While opponents of aid to Ukraine often denigrate aid packages as being a "blank check" handed over to the Ukrainian government, most of the aid is in the form of military hardware. The dollar figures in the aid packages mostly represent money spent in the U.S. to pay arms manufacturers for the equipment the U.S. ships to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday he was confident the U.S. would not "betray" his country by withholding crucial wartime funding as it fights off a Russian invasion.
"We are working very hard on this, and I am certain the United States of America will not betray us, and that on which we agreed in the United States will be fulfilled completely," Zelenskyy said during a televised news briefing in Kyiv.