On May 16, the upper body of the US Congress overwhelmingly voted to end the debate on a bill to allocate nearly $40 billion in support of Ukraine and move on, Ukrinform reported.
According to the report, 81 senators voted to stop the discussion of the bill and call a final vote on it later this week. Eleven lawmakers opposed (all Republicans). Eight more were not present in the session hall.
One Republican who opposed the bill in its current form, Senator Josh Howley, explained his position after the vote.
"Spending $40 billion to help Ukraine is more than three times more than the whole of Europe spent, which is not in America's interests," he said.
In addition, he said, the allocation of such an amount will not have proper oversight by the United States. The main vote on the bill in the upper body of the US Congress is expected to take place on Wednesday. After that the document must be approved by President Biden.
On Thursday, May 12, the Senator-Republican from the state of Kentucky Randal Paul single-handedly blocked the accelerated procedure of consideration of a new support package for Ukraine. The Senator introduced a draft amendment to the bill, proposing to create a separate inspector who would supervise the allocation of funds under this package.
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on May 13 that if the bill is not passed by next Thursday, May 19, it could affect the ability of the United States to provide uninterrupted military assistance to Ukraine.