Senate Republican leader: we are in a "difficult position" over border and aid package for Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
The Republican leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, has said that disagreements on immigration could prevent the approval of a comprehensive aid package for Ukraine. Disagreements that emerged after bipartisan talks on immigration could lead to Congress considering these issues separately.
The Republican leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, has told the Republican Party that they are in a "quandary" over the border and the Ukraine aid package.
This UNN reports with reference to CNN.
According to a Republican Party source familiar with the matter, McConnell told Republicans in a private meeting Wednesday that they are in a "quandary" given that bipartisan negotiations on immigration have created intra-party animosity and may have closed the way to approving a sweeping package..
It has been noted that new doubts from the Republican leader in the Senate - a leading proponent of increased aid to Ukraine - suggest that Congress may have to take up the issues in their entirety or break the package into separate parts, although no decisions have been made.
Sources said McConnell's goal at the meeting was to explain to his colleagues that there is no clear path forward unless members are willing to compromise. The new doubts came as Republicans in the House - backed by Trump, who has criticized immigration as a major election issue - protested the bipartisan talks, even before they had concluded.
Republicans are already divided on whether to approve any aid to Ukraine, even though they have insisted that the border issue must be resolved before aid to Ukraine is approved. On top of that, the demand by Republicans in the House to pass a border security bill - HR 2 - is no match for Democrats
During the meeting, McConnell read Trump's 2018 quote questioning whether Democrats could ever vote for border security and a message to his Republican colleagues that this may be the best opportunity for Republicans to secure the border in decades.
North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis, who is among those who support the aid increase, said he just wanted to remind his colleagues that inaction can have consequences.
Supplement
Biden hopes to get a border agreement in the Senate next week, on which aid to Ukraine depends.
