U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock
U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and other Senate Democrats blocked a surprise move by Senate Republicans on Tuesday to force a vote on aid for Israel in its war against the Hamas terrorists that control Gaza. It was an aid package that Democrats have been using to leverage U.S. House of Representatives support for more military aid to Ukraine.
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., moved for the Senate to proceed to the emergency spending bill when there was no other business on the floor. But Warnock immediately called for a quorum call to stall the Israel aid vote while the rest of his party could discuss its next move to foil the Republicans.
Media reports indicate Republicans repeatedly asked to end the quorum call to move to the bill, but were met with other objections from a Warnock ally, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash. “My assumption is that Chuck Schumer and Democratic leadership is in their office panicking and trying to figure out what to do next. Their objective is to prevent a vote,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., told The Washington Times.
The Democrat-run Senate eventually voted to scuttle the Israel aid measure in a 51-48 party-line vote.
The bill, which has already passed the Republican-run House, would give $14.3 billion to Israel and pay for the spending by siphoning off extra Internal Revenue Service funding from the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, a controversial tax and climate change law that President Joe Biden signed last year.
