12:46 PM ET, February 7, 2024
Schumer thinks the Ukraine bill, which would remove Ukraine from the border deal, will get enough votes to advance later today
From CNN's Ted Barrett, Christine Wilson and Morgan Rimmer
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he considers a national defense supplemental spending bill — stripped of border policy changes — to be the norm. It was opposed by GOP senators – would receive enough bipartisan support to get at least 60 votes, the number needed to win a roll call vote scheduled for late Wednesday.
“Yes,” he said when asked by reporters at the Capitol if the measure would get enough votes to move forward.
Remember: The bill, which still needs to be debated and voted on in the coming days, also requires funding for Ukraine and citizens in Israel, Taiwan and Gaza. Before that vote, the Senate will vote on the original foreign aid bill with the border provisions still in place. But most Republicans would vote against the bill, blocking its passage.
“The majority of Republicans in the House said they want to do Ukraine and they want to do Israel. And if we pass it in the Senate, we hope the House will rise to the occasion. The House is in a mess. It's 30 far-right people who want to mess up like Donald Trump, and the Speaker doesn't want to block everything.” ,” he said.
He attacked Senate Republicans for rejecting bipartisan boundary rules, calling them a “messy caucus” and comparing them to the House GOP.
“I expected this kind of cynical nonsense from far-right House MAGA Republicans, but it's shameful and embarrassing to see MAGA extremism taking hold here in the Senate,” Schumer said.
