NC’s Tillis and Budd divided over aid package for Ukraine, Israel in overnight voting

North Carolina’s two Republican senators cast opposing votes early Tuesday morning on whether to provide $95 billion in military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The aid package passed the Senate, 70-29, around 5:30 a.m., with Sen. Thom Tillis among the 22 Republicans who helped Democrats.

For Tillis, he told reporters Tuesday, the aid package is essential for stability and failing to pass it would damage the United States’ international relationships.

Sen. Ted Budd, who voted against the bill, believes the United States needs to secure its own border before helping foreign countries, he said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

“We want to help our allies and partners, but to keep our nation strong, we must always put America first,” Budd said.

Budd and Tillis both voted earlier this month against border security and foreign aid legislation that a group of their fellow Senate Republicans negotiated with Democrats. Tillis told reporters Tuesday his vote against that version of the bill came because it didn’t have support from the majority of the Republican conference and he believed it would be a waste of time to send it to the House.

The latest bill offered the aid without the immigration changes, and divided Republicans. The tension boiled over and led to a marathon weekend and a nonstop session Monday night that didn’t conclude until the bill’s passage in Tuesday’s early hours.

Like Budd, Tillis also spoke on the Senate floor about his decision to vote for the bill: “This Congress cannot be remembered in the pages of history for emboldening (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and (Chinese President) Xi (Jinping).”

House reluctance to take up foreign aid bill

Democrats saw the bill’s passage in the Senate as a positive step, but it’s unclear whether Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, will allow the bill onto the House floor. As Tuesday continued, it looked more and more unlikely.

And the White House wasn’t pleased.

“It sends messages, not just to our allies and partners, but to potential adversaries as well, that the United States can’t be counted on, that we’re not interested in being a leader on the world stage, that we aren’t going to be able to stand by our commitments to our allies and partners who are fighting really critical fights here,” said John Kirby, the White House’s national security communications adviser.

“Israel’s going to fight literally for their lives and the Ukrainians, are too, for their democracy, so I think it sends a strong signal to the whole world, that perhaps, certain members of Congress aren’t willing to show or demonstrate the kind of American leadership on the world stage that the president did.”

Tillis defends his support

Tillis’ support of the bill, though consistent with his actions since the wars in Ukraine and Israel broke out, already began drawing the ire of Republicans back in North Carolina.

In a news conference Tuesday, he was asked if he worried about facing another censure from the North Carolina Republican Party for voting in support of the bill when both former President Donald Trump and many Republicans have spoken out against it.

The NCGOP didn’t specify last summer what Tillis did that caused their censure. However, it was seen as a response

to his willingness to work across the aisle on policy, stances he took on same-sex marriage and his help in passingone of the largest pieces of gun legislation in 30 years.

Tillis’ seat isn’t up until 2026. He said Tuesday he believes he could get GOP primary voters to understand his support of the aid package. Talking directly to his constituents is one of the reasons he held the news conference from North Carolina Tuesday.

“This alliance that has come together to support Ukraine is unprecedented,” Tillis said. “Every member of NATO and a couple dozen other countries are participating in supporting Ukraine’s heroic efforts to defend their sovereign territory.”

Tillis said when Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, everybody thought, due to intelligence reports, that Russia would have air superiority in a matter of days and any Ukrainian territory under its control in a matter of weeks.

“Two years later, Ukraine has proven their might, and proven their ability to adapt,” Tillis said, pausing to remember the lives lost from both sides.

He added that for every dollar sent to Ukraine in the aid package, two and a half dollars will go to building up and restocking U.S. inventories of military supplies.

“I believe that it is a solid, balanced policy and I hope when it goes over to the House, they will take it up and pass it because Vladimir Putin, Xi Jingping and the mullahs of Iran would love nothing more than for this measure to fail,” Tillis said.

Republican opposition

Democrats are bracing for that possibility.

By Tuesday afternoon, Johnson spoke out against the bill because it didn’t include border security.

Rep. Dan Bishop, a Republican living in Waxhaw, said Republicans were ready.

“No more putting foreign borders ahead of our own,” Bishop posted on social media. “The fight continues in the House. We’re ready.”

He added that “no one is lazier than a U.S. Senator when asked to secure the border,” adding that there are some exceptions.

Budd, who once served in the far-right House Freedom Caucus with Bishop, is likely one of those. In a speech on the Senate floor, Budd spoke out against providing aid to another country before securing the U.S. border, saying the U.S. is facing the worst border crisis in history and feeling the consequences of that.

But he added that in speaking with his constituents he believed the majority of people would support sending aid to allies once the border is fixed.

“Most folks aren’t opposed to helping our friends, they just think we need to take care of our country first,” Budd said. “America First does not have to mean America only.”

But Budd said the only viable path forward is for Congress to force President Joe Biden to get serious about securing the border.

“Until that happens, we find ourselves locked in stalemate as the world burns,” Budd said. “We cannot accept this.”

Democratic pressure

The stalemate forced Biden to give a rare speech addressing the nation Tuesday afternoon and calling on Johnson to take up the bill.

“I call on the House speaker to let the full House speak it’s mind and not allow a small minority of the most extreme voices in the House block this bill from even being voted on,” Biden said. “This bipartisan bill sends a clear message to Ukrainians and to our partners, and our allies around the world that America can be trusted, America can be relied upon and America stands up for freedom. We stand strong for our allies. We never bow down to anyone and certainly not to Vladimir Putin. So let’s get on with this.”

If Johnson fails to bring the vote to the floor, Democrats are considering a discharge petition. This allows the majority of House members to petition for the bill to be brought to the floor despite Johnson’s objections.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries signaled his willingness to take this step Tuesday in a letter saying he would “use every legislative tool available to get the bill to the floor.”

In addressing reporters Tuesday, Tillis added that he was misquoted on Sunday when it was reported that he was willing to help with this effort. He said he was only trying to explain that this tool existed.

“That’s not my pasture,” Tillis said. “I’m dealing with getting this bill out of the Senate, which we were successful with doing, and that’s going to be up to the House to sort out.”