Schumer, McConnell say they’re ‘committed’ to Ukraine-border deal as Senate heads home

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said they are “committed” to passing legislation sending billions to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the southern border, issuing a rare joint statement as the Senate prepares to leave town for the year.

The two leaders spent Tuesday praising the momentum of negotiations led by Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and James Lankford (R-Okla.) as well as Biden officials and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. They both acknowledged much remained to be done even after hours of closed-door negotiations.

In their statement the two leaders said they hoped to take “swift action” in January after those talks produce legislation. It’s a pledge both to senators and U.S. allies watching if Congress can deliver aid to Ukraine after stumbling over the issue for the last three months.

“The Senate will not let these national security challenges go unanswered,” they said.

The negotiators cited progress over the past week but big issues remain in areas like parole and expulsion authorities. The group continued meeting on Tuesday but it’s become clear over the past three days that the Senate is nowhere close to voting.

Republicans said they would block another procedural vote to advance legislation and accused Democrats of not bending enough to their demands. Democrats said they would not compromise on their principles and slammed the GOP proposals as akin to the policies of former President Donald Trump.

“It’s clear where we are,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said in an interview. “My Democratic colleagues are waiting for [President] Biden to give them cover so they can decide what to do to make changes. And if he’s not willing to make any changes, then I don’t think it’s gonna pick up any Republican votes.”

The senators have made major progress on raising the standard of asylum claims but are only in the beginning stages of drafting legislation and have not yet agreed to a framework deal. Schumer and McConnell said in their statement that “challenging issues remain” for negotiators to solve.

“It needs to come together. And I think that we can’t treat this just like it’s one more failure of the United States Congress,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who has been slowing FAA legislation to keep Congress negotiating. “The perception of incompetence around the world can itself be very, very important.”

Shortly after Schumer and McConnell’s statement, Bennet released his hold.