Senate GOP blocks bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package in key vote

President Joe Biden took harsh aim at congressional Republicans during a fundraiser in New York on Wednesday after the Senate GOP blocked a bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package from advancing.

Biden said he'd “never thought I'd see something like we are seeing now” on Capitol Hill, and blamed his opponent former President Donald Trump for calling and “threatening” lawmakers with “retribution” if they supported the package, which also included more American funding for Ukraine and Israel.

Republicans, Biden claimed, are “walking away because they’ve got Donald Trump calling and threatening them.”

The remarks, delivered behind closed doors to donors on Manhattan's Upper West Side, were a preview of how Biden plans to use the failed border vote to his political advantage in the months ahead.

The Senate is now casting a procedural vote to begin the process of debating a foreign aid package without the border security provisions. It would give money to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

This vote only requires a simple majority to succeed. But this would eventually require another vote to overcome a 60-vote threshold in order to break a filibuster.

While the Senate may get a simple majority in this first vote, it is unclear whether the chamber will get 60 votes eventually, because Republicans are demanding an agreement to have their amendments considered to the underlying bill.

This vote comes after Senate Republicans blocked a major bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package earlier on the floor.

A procedural vote to advance the bipartisan border security deal and foreign aid package with assistance for Ukraine and Israel has failed.

The vote was 49 to 50. At least 60 votes were needed for it to move forward.

Senate Republicans were expected to block it amid opposition from former President Donald Trump and top House Republicans.

Here are some of the notable votes:

What could come next: Schumer plans to force a procedural vote on a separate emergency aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan without the border provisions. This vote could happen later on Wednesday.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell voted to block the bipartisan Senate immigration bill, standing in solidarity with the majority of his conference to scuttle the effort. 

The vote is still ongoing, but Senate Republicans are expected to block it from reaching the 60-vote threshold to move forward.

The Senate is holding a procedural vote now on whether to advance the bipartisan border security deal and foreign aid package with aid for Ukraine and Israel.

Senate Republicans are expected to block it amid opposition from former President Donald Trump and top House Republicans, including Speaker Mike Johnson. 

If Republicans block the larger package as expected, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to bring up a procedural vote on an emergency aid package for Israel and Ukraine that drops the border deal.

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, one of the top negotiators on the Senate border package, blasted Senate Republicans for rejecting the provisions, accusing them of wanting to use the border for “political theater,” and not actually wanting to solve the problem.

But she said she had a message to anyone looking to stage a political event at the southern border: "Don't come to Arizona. Take your political theater to Texas. Do not bring it to my state.”

She accused Senate Republicans of flip-flopping on border security to boost their political profiles. “Less than 24 hours after we released the bill, my Republican colleagues changed their minds. Turns out they want all talk and no action. It turns out, border security is not actually a risk to our national security, it’s just a talking point for the election,” said Sinema.

She concluded her remarks by saying that “the Senate has failed Arizona,” calling Senate Republicans' behavior “shameful.”

Sinema has previously looked to fault Republican senators for sinking the $118 billion bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package, refusing to blame former President Donald Trump, who has sought to tank the bill.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended his handling of Tuesday night’s attempted impeachment vote of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after a expected win turned into an embarrassing loss for the speaker, followed by a second vote loss on an Israel funding package. 

“We have to hold the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security accountable. Mayorkas needs to be held accountable. The Biden administration needs to be held accountable, and we will pass the articles of impeachment. We'll do it on next round.”

When pressed by CNN’s Manu Raju that some members in the GOP conference – specifically Rep. Thomas Massie – have said Johnson’s inexperience and removing former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was an “unmitigated disaster” for the GOP, Johnson conceded “it was a mess” but laid blame not on leadership but on the House itself. 

“Well, look, it was a mess what happened here but we're cleaning it up. and Massey is one of my dear friends and colleagues and I don't take this as a reflection on the leader. It's a reflection on the body itself and the place where we come in this country,” he said. 

He said the House would “take a look” at whatever funding bill the Senate sends over.

“We’ll see what the Senate does. We’re allowing the process to play out and we’ll handle it as it is sent over,” he said. “We spend a lot of time on the House side waiting the Senate’s action and it’s frustrating sometimes, but that the way the process plays out.”

The White House warned Wednesday that failure to pass the supplemental border security funding they’ve asked for will have direct impacts on the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency.

The heightened warning comes after President Joe Biden previewed that he and his team will hammer the message that Republicans don’t want to secure the border “every day between now and November,” setting up an opening salvo on what’s expected to be a key general election issue for voters.

But Wednesday’s specificity regarding ICE marks a more tangible impact of the failure to fund border security.

Her comments came ahead of a key procedural vote in the Senate on the bill, which is expected to fail. 

The Senate Appropriations Committee announced the legislative text of the more than $95 billion foreign aid package that is stripped of the border provisions.

That money includes aid to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia and security assistance for Israel, as well as humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

Remember: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to force a procedural vote on the supplemental spending bill on Wednesday. But before that vote, the Senate will vote on the original foreign aid bill with the border provisions still in it. But most Republicans are expected to vote against that bill, blocking its path.