Utah Sen. Mike Lee rallying Senate to kill overseas assist invoice for Ukraine, Israel

WASHINGTON — With the Home of Representatives’ weekend approval of a long-awaited overseas assist bundle, the query of army assist to Israel and Ukraine is now within the arms of the Senate, the place Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is attempting to rally opponents to “kill the invoice.”

Representatives permitted a sequence of overseas assist payments Saturday totaling $95 billion to Israel, Ukraine and different allies on a bipartisan foundation after Home Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, agreed to carry the payments to a vote over opposition and threats to oust him from some in his personal caucus. President Joe Biden has promised to approve the bundle if handed by the Senate, which is able to contemplate the help as a single invoice.

However Lee — who has repeatedly criticized efforts to ship additional army and financial assist to Ukraine — known as the bundle “unadulterated capitulation” and appeared to attempt to bolster assist for opposing a vote to shut debate on the invoice, which requires a 60-vote majority. In a number of posts, he accused some Republicans of being “progressive” for working with Democrats to go the help.

“This invoice — the $95 billion menace handed by the Home as we speak — cannot go the Senate with Democrats alone,” he posted on social platform X on Saturday. “If simply 41 of the 49 Republicans within the Senate vote ‘no,’ this invoice shall be stopped lifeless in its tracks.”

He additionally stated the invoice would give $9 billion to the Hamas terrorist group, referring to cash supplied for humanitarian assist for individuals within the Gaza Strip — a lot of whom are ladies and youngsters — amid the continued Israel-Hamas warfare.

The help bundle additionally contains about $61 billion for Ukraine and to replenish U.S. weapons stockpiles, about $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian assist, and about $8 billion for U.S. allies within the Indo-Pacific area. A measure to require TikTok’s mum or dad firm to divest from the social media platform within the U.S. or be banned was additionally included.

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— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 22, 2024

The Senate will convene Tuesday at 11 a.m. to contemplate the bundle, would may go as early as Wednesday.

Lee appeared on Fox Information on Sunday to push again in opposition to the Home payments, telling Maria Bartiromo that if the Senate approves the payments, “We could have relinquished what little bargaining energy we had left.”

“We began saying months in the past, Ukraine does not get one other dime, particularly till such time as … Congress has handed laws to power Joe Biden’s hand” in relation to securing the border, Lee stated. “That did not occur, and the Republican-led Home of Representatives utterly walked away from that yesterday.”

“Look, this can be a actually whole lot for Ukraine and (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy. It is a actually whole lot for Hamas, which stands to obtain as much as $9 billion of this $95 billion assist bundle,” the senator added. “And this isn’t good for hardworking Individuals who’re discovering an increasing number of of their taxpayer {dollars} going to individuals aside from Individuals; going to safe border(s) aside from the U.S. border.”

A proposal to hyperlink Israel and Ukraine funding with enhanced border safety was crafted by a bunch of bipartisan senators earlier this 12 months, however Lee was adamant in opposing the invoice, calling it a “sizzling mess” and a “crap-sandwich of a border invoice.”

Utah’s 4 representatives — all Republicans — have been cut up on the help for Ukraine, however all 4 voted as a bloc in favor of assist to Israel, Indo-Pacific allies and the invoice cracking down on TikTok.

Reps. Blake Moore and John Curtis voted in favor of the Ukraine funding, whereas Reps. Burgess Owens and Celeste Maloy voted in opposition to.