It’s uncertain whether the bill will pass the House of Representatives which hasn’t approved a major funding bill including Ukraine since the Republicans became the majority in 2023.

By:  Vered Weiss – WorldIsraelNews.com

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Tuesday urged his colleagues in the Senate to “finish the job” and approve a bill allocating $95.34 billion in aid to Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan with humanitarian assistance for Gaza, and called the funding “a down payment on the survival of Western democracy.”

Although there is no indication whether the bill will pass in the House of Representatives which hasn’t approved a major funding bill for Ukraine since the Republicans became the majority in 2023, the bill showed promise in a 67-27 vote, with the support of 18 of the Senate’s 49 Republicans.

Democrat Chuck Schumer expressed confidence that the bill could overcome procedural hurdles and pass on Wednesday.

“These are enormously high stakes of the national security package. Our security, our values, our democracy. It’s a down payment for the survival of Western democracy and the survival of Western values,” he said.

Schumer continued, “By now, we have taken numerous procedural votes that prove beyond doubt that there’s strong support behind this bill. It’s time to finish the job and get this critical bill passed.”

“If we want the world to remain a safe place for freedom, for democratic principles, for American prosperity, then elected leaders need to put in the work to make that happen,” Schumer said.

He concluded, “The entire world will remember what the Senate does in the next few days.”

After back-to-back Saturday and Sunday sessions to discuss the bill, Senator Rand Paul challenged it with a filibuster on Monday and said he refused to support it because of concerns it would further expand the national debt.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has not voted in favor of aid for Ukraine in the past, but last week unveiled a House bill providing $17.6 billion to Israel without the inclusion of other countries funded by the Senate bill.

Schumer later told reporters he hopes to speak directly with Johnson and urge him “to step up to the moment and do the right thing.”

“With this bill, the Senate declares that American leadership will not waver, not falter, not fail,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

Schumer added that the Senate’s action would make Russian President Vladimir Putin “regret the day he questioned America’s resolve.  And we send a clear bipartisan message of resolve to our allies in NATO.”

Last week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre strongly condemned the House bill, stating that it was just a “political game.”

The White House statement continued, “We strongly oppose this ploy which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Putin’s aggression, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of them women and children, which the Israelis supported by opening the access route.”

NBC News reported that twenty-two Senate Republicans voted for the package, as did 46 Democrats and two independents who caucus with Democrats.

Twenty-six Republicans and two Democrats — Peter Welch of Vermont and Jeff Merkley of Oregon — voted no. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, also voted against it, NBC News reported.