Senate Dems unveil $111 billion funding package for Ukraine, Israel and border

Senate Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a roughly $111 billion national security package to provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, along with measures targeting the southern border. 

A summary of the 167-page bill said the measure would provide more than $15 billion in support for Ukraine, covering areas like “military training, intelligence sharing,” and “increased presence in the European Command area of responsibility.”

The bill also includes $10.6 billion in assistance for Israel, which the summary says covers $4 billion for missile defense capabilities, as well as $1.2 billion “to accelerate development of the Iron Beam missile defense system.”

The summary also outlines $43.6 billion in measures aimed at boosting the nation’s weapons and munitions production capacity, as well as investing in the U.S. submarine industrial base and enhancing stockpiles.  

In a statement accompanying the bill’s release on Tuesday, Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) called it “imperative we extend our support for Ukraine at this pivotal moment and make clear to Putin and other dictators that they cannot simply wait out the United States.” 

“It’s past time for Senators to stop tying partisan and extreme immigration proposals to a broadly bipartisan supplemental,” she said, while adding the package also “turbocharges efforts across government to stop the flow of fentanyl and crack down on transnational criminal organizations trafficking it.” 

The rollout comes as border talks between senators on both sides have been floundering in recent days, as Republicans demand any deal to provide aid for Ukraine and Israel also include changes to shore up border security.  

Among the provisions Democrats highlighted in the package on Tuesday includes a roughly $1.4 billion for the hiring of “immigration judge teams, including associated attorneys, law clerks, paralegals, court administrators, interpreters, and other support staff,” among other areas. 

The bill also puts hundreds of millions of dollars toward efforts seeking to address the “backlog of DNA samples collected from migrants encountered by the U.S. Border Patrol,” enhancing the Drug Enforcement Administration’s “laboratory analysis of illicit fentanyl samples to trace illicit fentanyl supplies back to manufacturers.”  

Democrats say the bill would also provide more than $5 billion in emergency funding for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and about $2.3 billion in emergency dollars to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

The bill is expected to come up for its first procedural vote on Wednesday, as Democrats warn Ukraine is running short on resources amid its ongoing war with Russia. 

However, it faces a rocky road to passage as Republicans press for more aggressive proposals on the border. 

Updated at 5:01 p.m.