Senate Democrats are concerned about the implications another battle for the speakership could have on passing funding for the Ukraine war effort after it was excluded from the temporary spending measure.
“I’m worried, but there’s no excuse to further delay it,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) following a press conference in which lawmakers and veterans pushed for immediate funding for Ukraine.
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“I’m worried about the technical and logistical process. We should not get bogged down with the inside-the-Beltway technicalities when our national security is at stake along with Ukraine’s,” he added.
The House moved to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from his post on Tuesday afternoon.
The Senate voted 88-9 on Saturday evening to pass the House’s 45-day continuing resolution, which includes disaster relief but no Ukraine funding. They abandoned a previous bipartisan continuing resolution after McCarthy abruptly changed course Saturday morning, announcing the House would be taking up its own measure.
Now the Senate’s staunchest Ukraine allies are looking for a strategy to provide funding for Ukraine moving forward. With the Senate adjourning a day early this week to allow members to travel to the funeral of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) after the senior senator from California died last week and a congressional work period the following week, it doesn’t appear any action is happening soon.
“We are in recess next week, so I hope very soon, if not right after we return,” Blumenthal said.
One possible move forward for the Senate is for them to use a recently passed House bill that provided $300 million in funding for Ukraine. The legislation was passed after the money was taken out of a House Republican-drafted defense bill. But Democratic senators have made it clear they don’t believe that’s nearly enough.
“I am grateful that both leader Schumer and Sen. McConnell quickly came together and agreed that the Senate will keep working to advance additional economic and security aid to Ukraine before the end of the year,” Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said during the press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
The Illinois senator, who is also a veteran, admitted funding for Ukraine could be affected by the chaos in the House.
“I think it could, but we do have 45 days, and I hope that we are going to be able to pass something well before that,” she said.
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) sounded the alarm about how a speakerless House could paralyze the Senate’s work, specifically regarding Ukraine.
“Ukraine is running out of money right now, as we speak. We have not authorized any new money to help Ukraine to defend their territory against Russian aggression,” Murphy said. “Why? Because McCarthy would not agree to that funding in the resolution over the weekend to keep the government open.”
“These are life and death stakes here, and this sideshow in the House of Representatives, maybe there are some Democrats celebrating it, but it’s bad for the country,” Murphy added.
There are Republicans who are worried too.
“My question, without leadership in the House, how are we going to do this?” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) said, referring to passing appropriations bills and additional aid for Ukraine.
Some Republican senators believe an effort to combine Ukraine funding with a border bill could be a more viable option in the months to come in an effort to appease more House Republicans to get on board with increasing aid.
“I think a Ukraine bill is strong enough to where it can stand on its own, but I think it would be better if we included it with some sort of a border protection bill,” Rounds said. “But now there’s no one there to organize reception and to create conference committees that really are necessary.”
“We just have to do it in a way to get the most votes and make it sustainable right,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, speaking with reporters over the weekend.
However, Blumenthal does not believe that’s the right approach.
“My preference would be to deal with Ukraine aid separately. We should not be holding this aid hostage,” Blumenthal told reporters on Tuesday. “The president’s proposal for funding for border security, there’s a major spike in investment.”
“There needs to be a sense of urgency. We do not have enough money for Ukraine to literally defend itself,” Blumenthal added.
The push for more funding comes after the Department of Defense warned Congress that it is running low on funding to replace the weapons it provides to Ukraine.
According to a letter to Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) dated last Friday, Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord warned the department would “have to delay or curtail assistance to meet Ukraine’s urgent requirements, including for aid defense and ammunition that are both critical and urgent now as Russia prepares to conduct a winter offensive and continue its bombardment of Ukrainian cities.”
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Even some Republicans in the Senate are starting to express their concern about how they’ll be able to accomplish passing a budget by mid-November with the uncertainty ensuing in the House.
“Now, they are going to be stuck arguing amongst themselves about who is going to be the next speaker instead of working on the budget and critical funding for Ukraine,” said a Senate Republican aide speaking on condition of anonymity. “This is just not a good time for this to be happening at all.”
