Worthless POS:
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) objected to a Senate vote on an aid package for Ukraine, meaning the chamber will not approve the measure this week.
Biden wanted the bill — which sends $39.8 billion in economic, humanitarian and defense aid to Ukraine — on his desk by the end of this week.
Paul single-handedly blocked the measure’s swift advancement because the Senate requires unanimous consent to quickly move such a bill to a final vote. Because of his opposition to a quick vote, the Senate must now go through all the usual procedural hoops.
“We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy,” Paul said of the vote.
Paul, who is ideologically opposed to sending more dollars overseas to a war in which the United States is not directly fighting, said the only way he’d vote to advance the bill was if he was allowed to include a provision that would require the appointment of an inspector general to oversee the funding. Doing so would have forced the bill to go back to the House.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who had agreed to pass the aid package this week, offered Paul an amendment vote on his provision. He rejected it.
“He is simply saying, ‘My way or the highway,’” Schumer said, per Mike DeBonis. “When you have a proposal to amend a bill, you can’t just come to the floor and demand it by fiat. You have to convince other members to back it first. That is how the Senate works.”
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) objected to a Senate vote on an aid package for Ukraine, meaning the chamber will not approve the measure this week.
Biden wanted the bill — which sends $39.8 billion in economic, humanitarian and defense aid to Ukraine — on his desk by the end of this week.
Paul single-handedly blocked the measure’s swift advancement because the Senate requires unanimous consent to quickly move such a bill to a final vote. Because of his opposition to a quick vote, the Senate must now go through all the usual procedural hoops.
“We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the U.S. economy,” Paul said of the vote.
Paul, who is ideologically opposed to sending more dollars overseas to a war in which the United States is not directly fighting, said the only way he’d vote to advance the bill was if he was allowed to include a provision that would require the appointment of an inspector general to oversee the funding. Doing so would have forced the bill to go back to the House.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who had agreed to pass the aid package this week, offered Paul an amendment vote on his provision. He rejected it.
“He is simply saying, ‘My way or the highway,’” Schumer said, per Mike DeBonis. “When you have a proposal to amend a bill, you can’t just come to the floor and demand it by fiat. You have to convince other members to back it first. That is how the Senate works.”
