Senate Briefing Erupts Into Shouting Over Biden's Israel, Ukraine Aid Package

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Facts

  • A classified briefing for US Senators on Tuesday broke down into heated arguments and shouting, according to multiple accounts. In doing so, the briefing failed to break a deadlock, casting doubt on whether Congress will approve Pres. Joe Biden's national security package before the end of the year.1
  • The $110.5B package proposed by Democrats includes an additional $60B for Ukraine, military aid for Israel, as well as allocations for securing the US-Mexico border and humanitarian assistance. However, the fate of the bill has looked dim with Republicans demanding more stringent restrictions on immigration since last month — changes considered unpalatable to most Democrats.2
  • The closed-door meeting on Tuesday included the US Secretaries of State and Defense, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, as well as Gen. C.Q. Brown — the newly appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.3
  • However, Republicans were reportedly upset at the lack of discussion on the security of the US border as well as the lack of officials from the Department of Homeland Security. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) accused his counterpart, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), of diverting the subject to the US border when briefers had primarily been there to talk about Ukraine.1
  • Schumer alleged: 'Even one of them was disrespectful and started screaming at one of the generals and challenging him to why they didn’t go to the border.' CNN identified the Republican as Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). However, a spokesperson for the lawmaker said Cotton's fire was directed at Schumer, not a military official or a briefer from Biden's administration.1
  • Speaking to reporters, Cotton said he took issue with Schumer's remarks in which he is said to have accused Republicans of having 'injected' the issue of border security into the debate. Cotton recounted his remarks as saying: '''Nope, Republicans haven’t injected border security into this debate. Joe Biden sent us a supplemental bill with border provisions in it.' [Schumer] had the misfortune of spreading those lies right after someone had handed me a microphone.'4
  • Meanwhile, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been due to virtually address the meeting and make the case for further aid himself. However, for unknown reasons, he was forced to cancel at the last minute. Nonetheless, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy's chief of staff, was in Washington to make the case for Ukraine. He said there was a 'big risk' Ukraine could lose the war with Russia unless new aid is approved.5

Sources: 1CNN, 2Washington Post, 3Washington Examiner, 4NBC and 5Independent.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by CNN. Republicans hijacked this briefing. Administration officials had been there to brief Congress on Ukraine's dire need for military aid. Instead, Republicans wanted to turn it all about border security, reaching such a fever pitch that they began screaming at military officials.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by NBC. This briefing was called to discuss Pres. Biden's proposed security package — a portion of which is dedicated to securing the US border with Mexico. Democrats wanted to conduct the meeting with no mention of this issue. Tempers only flared when Republicans tried to address it — and this was addressed to Sen. Schumer, not any military officials.

Predictions