The Senate passed the bill on Thursday and it will be sent to the president for his signature.
The bill includes tens of billions of dollars in funding for lethal aid to the Ukrainian military, billions to the State Department to provide economic development aid to the war-torn country, and $4 billion for tackling global food shortages caused by the war.
Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell said in a floor speech on Thursday that the Senate would approve more lethal assistance for Ukraine.
The bill was held up for a week by Kentucky Republican Sen. Paul, who wanted an inspector general to be in charge of the aid spending.
While the aid package passed the chamber with unanimous Democratic support and the backing of most Republicans, 11 Republican senators bucked their party, citing reasons ranging from the cost of the spending, to a lack of oversight into where that money might be spent, to broader concerns about America.
Insider asked Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming why she would vote against the measure. Inflation is out of control. We aren't protecting our borders.
Ukrainians are amazing. We were slow to help them out of the gate, according to Sen. Mike Braun of Indiana. When I found out we were not offsetting anything, and we were borrowing every penny of it, that turned it into a no vote for me.
The bill is an extension of the unfocused globalism that many in my party have embraced in the last couple of years, according to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley.
—Senator Bill Hagerty (@SenatorHagerty) May 17, 2022
The bill was opposed by 57 House Republicans, with many of them making similar arguments.
As the wealthiest country on the planet, we have to stop spending money we don't have, and this should not be an impossible goal, wrote Republican Rep. Chip Roy in an op-ed last week.
Democrats in the House supported the bill despite their own objections, including the amount of money that the package sends to defense contractors.
The 11 Republican senators voted against the bill.
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