Between deadly Republican arguments and the standoff with Joe Biden, the American Congress fell into chaos again on Wednesday and was unable to pass a package for Ukraine or Israel.
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Nevertheless, there have been heated negotiations for months over a bill that would authorize funds for the two warring countries and reform the American migration system. But no one is under any illusions: this will not be approved in a vote in the Senate this afternoon either.
As for the House of Representatives, on Tuesday it was the scene of a humiliating moment for Republican elected officials, despite having a majority but being woefully defeated in a trial that would lead to a historic indictment of one of Joe Biden's secretaries .
The United States, Ukraine's main military backer with more than $110 billion already released by Congress, has been struggling for months to send new money to Kiev.
The Democratic general staff in charge of the Senate is preparing a series of alternative scenarios “after the failure expected on Wednesday,” a source in that camp told AFP.
But the risk remains the same: that all these initiatives will run into a wall of Trumpist parliamentarians who refuse to release even the slightest extra cent for Kiev, despite repeated requests from American President Joe Biden.
“Thriller worthy”
Ukrainian diplomacy chief Dmytro Kouleba, who has been urging the US to send new money against Russia for months, regretted the “confused” situation on Wednesday.
“Last night I received a final report from Washington on the possible scenarios and some of them are worthy of a thriller,” Mr Kouleba explained. “Everything is very confusing, depends on many factors and can go right or left or straight ahead,” he added.
The failure of new means would be a major disappointment for Ukraine, whose counteroffensive over the summer largely failed.
It would also be a significant setback for Joe Biden to his European partners, who agreed to a 50 billion euro extension for Kiev on February 1.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said it was “essential” that the US Congress continued to support Ukraine, saying that “a Russian victory would weaken us and embolden not only Moscow, but also China, Iran and North Korea.”
Hospital outfit
The United States is not much further along in validating funds for Israel, a historic ally that has been at war with Hamas since October 7.
Because President Joe Biden demands that any aid to Israel be coupled with an envelope for Ukraine.
Republicans in the House of Representatives oppose this, but were unable to pass their own bill on Tuesday to force him to act.
Already shaken by the firing of one of their leaders several months ago, Republicans at the top of the institution suffered another setback in the evening by failing to impeach Biden's immigration secretary. They accuse Alejandro Mayorkas of causing a crisis on the border with Mexico and for this reason wanted to impose a sanction that has not been imposed in almost 150 years.
The Republican general staff, believing they had enough votes to win this vote, were surprised by the surprise arrival in the chamber of a Democratic elected official, Al Green, who was still recovering from abdominal surgery.
The Arizona elected official arrived in the middle of the vote in a wheelchair, barefoot and in hospital scrubs, ultimately tipping the scales in Democrats' favor.