Talks among Republicans in Congress are already underway for another route to split up aid for Israel and Ukraine aid, as the House\u2019s $14.3 billion Israel-only aid proposal is likely to be dead-on-arrival in the Senate, sources told Fox News Digital Wednesday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We need to come up with a different package to move forward that has the ability to get through the Democrat controlled Senate and signed into law by a president, who is also a Democrat,\u2019 a senate aide told Fox News Digital Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Some people are concerned about Ukraine. Some people are going about the border. Some people are concerned about money for Hamas,\u2019 an aide said. \u2018So, everyone has their own reasons as to why they are concerned about the large package, but it is a pretty evenly split amongst the party.\u2019<\/p>\n
House Republicans debuted their version of the emergency bill on Monday giving $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, while cutting into cash President Biden allocated toward the IRS last year.<\/p>\n
The 13-page bill would offset the foreign aid by rescinding those funds from the Inflation Reduction Act passed last year. Specifically, it targets part of the $80 billion the package gave to the IRS. The bill mirrors a GOP package introduced by Sens. Roger Marshall, Ted Cruz, JD Vance and Mike Lee in the upper chamber last week, which would also provide $14.3 billion to Israel.<\/p>\n
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., \u2014 who has been advocating for the aid package to remain separate \u2014 supports the House\u2019s bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We have a Republican-majority House, and what we should be doing as Republican senators is support our Republican majority in the House,\u2019 Scott told Fox News Digital in an interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized the House\u2019s bill on the Senate floor Tuesday. Schumer called the package \u2018woefully inadequate\u2019 and denounced its offset provisions as \u2018poison pills that increase the deficit and help wealthy tax cheats avoid paying their fair share.\u2019<\/p>\n
The House\u2019s bill could put Democrats in a tough spot between the political fallout of rejecting Israel aid and the bill\u2019s removal of funds from Biden\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the Senate\u2019s version, Scott said he doesn\u2019t think \u2018they will have the votes necessary to get the Ukraine aid done\u2019 without stronger border security policies implemented. A number of GOP senators in recent days have been outspoken about their opposition to more federal dollars sent to the border without policy reforms.<\/p>\n
\u2018If we do Ukraine aid, then we do ought to do it in a manner that is tied completely to incrementally giving them the aid as we actually get real border security, which I completely support,\u2019 Scott said. \u2018If Chuck Schumer wants to get aid to Ukraine, we\u2019re going to have border security, otherwise, it\u2019s not going to happen.\u2019<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been advocating for the package to remain cohesive despite dwindling support for Ukraine within the GOP, calling it a \u2018global\u2019 war against countries like Russia, China and Iran who oppose democratic nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The total amount requested from Biden is roughly $105 billion. It includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine; $14.3 billion for Israel (with $10.6 billion allocated for military aid); $13.6 billion for \u2018border protection\u2019 such as speeding up processing asylum seekers; and significant investments in Indo-Pacific security assistance, totaling around $7.4 billion. Additionally, there\u2019s $9 billion earmarked for humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.<\/p>\n
Fox News\u2019 Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.<\/p>\n