Senators voted 86-11 to pass H.R. 7691, the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, which includes a broad range of military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine amid the invasion by neighboring Russia. The bill had passed the House on May 10 and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law.
Ahead of the vote, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., criticized the "embarrassing" wait to consider the legislation "in the midst of a bloody war where innocent people are dying and a nation has been ... reduced to rubble."
"This bill should not be delayed in the Senate any longer," he said. "It's time for us to stand up once and for all and make clear we are standing by Ukraine and their defense of democracy."
With an existing $13.6 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine on the verge of being exhausted, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had originally tried to advance the bill by unanimous consent on May 12, a move Paul blocked.
Paul said that although supporting Ukraine was a "noble cause," he had constitutional concerns about providing aid, and believed that the spending should be offset elsewhere and should be overseen by a special inspector general. It was not fiscally responsible to be "the world's policeman," he said.
"The vast majority of Americans sympathize with Ukraine and want them to repel the Russian invaders but if Congress were honest they'd take the money from elsewhere in the budget or ask Americans to pay higher taxes or, heaven forbid, loan Ukraine the money instead of gifting it," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
Schumer in his own floor speech Wednesday slammed the delay as "repugnant," saying the bill's passage "should already have been done and over with," but that Paul "chose to make a show and obstruct Ukraine funding."
Paul was ultimately one of the 11 senators, all Republicans, to vote against the bill. They variously argued that the amount of money provided was too much or needed more accountability, that the funding should instead go to address domestic issues such as inflation or that European allies should also step up and do more for Ukraine.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., for example said in tweets Monday that $40 billion was "more than three times" what European nations as a whole had provided to Ukraine and that spending that much "is not in America's interests."
"It neglects priorities at home (the border), allows Europe to freeload, short changes critical interests abroad and comes w/ no meaningful oversight," he tweeted. "That's not isolationism. That's nationalism. It's about prioritizing American security and American interests."
The majority of the bill's funding will go to military and security programs, including around $9 billion to replenish weapons transferred to Ukraine, $6 billion for security assistance for Ukraine, $4 billion for the Foreign Military Financing Program to help Ukraine and other Eastern European allies modernize their weapons and $3.9 billion for mission and intelligence support and hardship pay for U.S. troops deployed to the region.
It also includes an $8.8 billion economic support fund meant to help address emerging needs in Ukraine, such as medical care and housing, and keep its government running, while global food security programs will receive more than $5 billion amid price rises and shortages related to the Russian invasion.
Refugee support, such as housing, support services and English language classes, will receive more than $1.2 billion, although the bill excludes certain immigration measures that had originally been proposed to be included, including provisions to attract Russians with science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, graduate degrees, and the Afghan Adjustment Act, intended to codify a path to citizenship for Afghans who fled to the U.S. amid the Taliban takeover.
The bill also excludes additional COVID-19 relief funding that had been requested by the Biden administration, which was moved into separate legislation after it proved to be a sticking point in negotiations.
The vote came after the Senate on Wednesday confirmed two officials who will likely have important roles in ensuring the additional aid is distributed as intended, including Bridget Brink, approved unanimously as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and Christopher Lowman, confirmed as the assistant secretary of defense for sustainment, an important role in determining the logistics of getting equipment to Ukraine, in a 94-1 vote.
--Additional reporting by Hailey Konnath. Editing by Stephen Berg.
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