The Democrat-led Senate pressed ahead on Sunday with a $95 billion foreign aid package that dropped a controversial border security and immigration reform deal that was originally included in it.
Senators voted 40-53 to defeat a motion from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), which he said was meant to facilitate consideration of amendments, after which lawmakers again broke the 60-vote filibuster threshold in a 67-27 cloture vote, setting the stage for what could be a final vote this week.
The legislation aims to provide funds to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and other foreign priorities — including humanitarian aid — and excludes border security provisions put together by a bipartisan group of negotiators that resulted in a hybrid bill that was ultimately rejected by a group of Republicans and leftist senators last week.
Although there may yet be amendments taken up for consideration, Lee warned…
