The Kremlin has celebrated the gridlock, saying it hopes US lawmakers will keep axing Biden’s aid plan.
Republican senators in the United States have blocked $106bn in new funding for Ukraine and Israel, rejecting appeals from President Joe Biden amid anger over the exclusion of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.
Biden had earlier warned of dire consequences for Kyiv – and a “gift” to Russia’s Vladimir Putin – if Congress failed to pass the measure, which includes about $61bn to help Ukraine keep up pressure on Russia during the freezing winter months, as well as help for Israel and Gaza.
“They’re willing to literally kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield and damage our national security in the process,” Biden said.
The entire 49-strong Republican minority in the upper chamber voted against the proposal, pointing to a lack of government action on the estimated 10,000 migrants crossing from Mexico into the US every day.
“Everyone has been very, very clear on this to say we’re standing firm. Now is the moment,” Senator James Lankford, a lead Republican negotiator on immigration and border issues, told Fox Business ahead of the vote.
“We’re completely out of control at the southern border, and it’s time to resolve this.”
Citing aid for Israel, independent senator Bernie Sanders also voted against the bill, which needed 60 votes to pass.
The Kremlin celebrated the gridlock in Congress, saying it hoped lawmakers would keep shutting down the White House’s aid request.
“It is to be hoped that there remain enough people with sober minds among American congressmen,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
Peskov added that the White House was trying to “scorch the money of American citizens in the furnace of the Ukrainian war”.