This package, which has been delayed for months due to US Congressional chaos, includes money to advance the AUKUS military agreement by accelerating submarine production in America.
But although the legislation passed in a pre-dawn vote, the House, where Republicans hold a slim majority, declared the bill effectively dead on arrival.
Anthony Albanese, Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak at an AUKUS ad in San Diego in March.credit: Alex Ellinghausen
House Speaker Mike Johnson pledged that he would not allow a vote on his House floor without tough policies to stem the crisis on the US-Mexico border.
This comes despite Republicans last week rejecting a bill that would have addressed the issue of illegal immigration, after Trump, who is campaigning on the border crisis in a bid to return to power, made clear he wanted to block the legislation.
Biden warned that “history is watching,” urged the House to pass the latest bill, and told the nation: “We can’t walk away now” from Ukraine.
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“Supporting this bill is tantamount to standing up to Putin. Opposing this is in Putin's interest. “I have said before that this fight extends beyond Ukraine.”
The Ukraine funding cover-up is the latest example of Trump's control over the Republican Party, which until recently was overwhelmingly supportive of President Zelensky in the fight against Russian aggression.
Trump has also long criticized NATO, and what he sees as a financial burden on the United States to help defend the other 30 nations.
During his 2016 election campaign, for example, Trump alarmed Western allies by warning that if he became president, the United States might abandon its obligations under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and would only defend countries that meet the alliance's guidelines for By allocating 2 percent of its total domestic income. Products for military spending.
Although the United States did not end up abandoning NATO, his statements over the weekend were seen as a major escalation against the organization, and sparked widespread condemnation from world leaders.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that any attack on the alliance would be met with a “unified and strong response.”
He added: “Any suggestion that allies will not stand up for each other undermines our entire security, including that of the United States, and exposes American and European soldiers to increased danger.”
