Chuck “Six Ways from Sunday” Schumer has called for the Senate to remain in Washington until they pass the $110 billion aid package for military operations in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as money to deal with the “border crisis.” Given that the House of Representatives has already adjourned for Christmas without action on the $110 billion package, Schumer’s operation in the Senate is designed to put pressure on the House upon their return in January.
Schumer said on X on Dec. 12 that the Republicans “know very well that Ukraine’s fate is linked to our national security. If Ukraine falls, it will be a historic, colossal tragedy.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) took a parting shot aimed at the Senate before leaving Washington, posting on X that “the border is not just a crisis, it’s a catastrophe.”
Much of the opposition to the aid package among the House Republicans is centered on the limited funds for the border, and the growing recognition that further aid to Ukraine is a blackhole, given the failure of the counteroffensive and the inability to account for previous funding from Congress. The issue of corruption in Ukraine is also likely to come up in the context of the impeachment inquiry just voted by House Republicans, where Biden and his family’s financial schemes in Ukraine will undoubtedly arise.
However, linking further funding for the military-industrial complex to funding for the border leaves the space for swampy political deal making. The City of London and Wall Street certainly enjoy laundering the cash flow—previously estimated by the UN’s Office of Drugs and Crime to be in the trillions per year— from the cartel operations in drugs, weapons, human, and other forms of trafficking through the border. On the other hand, without further funding to the proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, London’s geopolitical future is massively harmed. Undoubtedly, there will be massive pressure over the holidays from the military-industrial complex upon Congress to get the $110 billion package passed. The question is whether there will be similar pressure from their constituents to shut down the war machine and retool it for peace.
