Senate Passes Stop-Gap Spending Bill with $12 Billion in Ukraine Aid, $3 Billion for Biden’s Afghans

The Senate on Thursday passed a stop-gap spending bill that would fund the government through mid-December, providing $12 billion in Ukraine aid and $3 billion for facilitating Afghan refugees to the United States.

The Senate voted to pass a stop-gap spending bill that would fund the federal government through December 16. The federal government would shut down if Congress failed to pass a spending bill before the end of Friday.

The Senate passed the bill, otherwise known as a continuing resolution (CR), 72-25, featuring strong Republican and Democrat support for the bill.

The CR, while it would fund the government for a few months, would also provide:

• $12.3 billion in economic and military aid to Ukraine
• $1 billion for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP)
• $2.5 billion in funding for New Mexico to recover from the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon fire
• $20 million for water infrastructure in Jackson, Mississippi
• a five-year reauthorization of FDA user fees
• $3 billion for the State Department to facilitate Afghan resettlement, and the FBI would receive $15 million to vet Afghan refugees
• $35 million to prepare and respond to “potential and radiological incidents in Ukraine”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spoke about the need to pass the bill to give more aid to Ukraine, “Of particular importance is the money to Ukraine. These people have struggled so valiantly. Make no mistake about it, American weaponry and help has helped them turn the tide of the war, we cannot stop now, and we’re not going to.”

Rep. Chip Roy’s (R-TX) office wrote several of the reasons that lawmakers should not vote for the CR, including that it would not secure America’s porous border, would not combat the fentanyl crisis, and contains many leftist provisions:

The legislation no longer includes Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) Energy Independence and Security Act, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) promised he would include in the CR as part of his support for the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill would have expedited federal government environmental reviews of natural gas and oil development.

The bill goes to the House, which is expected to pass. House Republican leadership has whipped Republicans against the legislation, so it should face more partisan opposition.