JUST IN: Senate Republicans kill border security, Ukraine funding bill

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans blocked the bipartisan border security bill that provided more than $70 billion in foreign aid in exchange for a little more than $20 billion towards efforts to secure the US-Southern border.

By a vote of 49-50, a motion to proceed with the package was defeated, with the majority of the Senate GOP conference voting against it. The measure was advanced by the votes of Republican senators Susan Collins (ME), Lisa Murkowski (AK), James Lankford (OK), and Mitt Romney (UT). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell cast the 41st vote, killing the bill.

This after the supplementary package had been declared "dead on arrival" in the House by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Schumer stated earlier on Wednesday that, in the event of a failed vote, he would propose a package containing aid for Israel, Ukraine, and other foreign policy priorities, but excluding the border agreement.

The Senate's $118 billion supplementary border security bill included $60.06 billion for Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia, and $14.1 billion for Israel to help with security assistance. In addition, $10 billion would be provided as humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine.

Both House and Senate Republicans slammed the compromise bill and declared it "dead on arrival" due to the significant amount of foreign aid compared to the minimal amount allotted to secure the US southern border amid the historic invasion.

Republican Senators in opposition of the bill such as Ted Cruz (TX), Mike Lee (UT), Ron Johnson (WI), Rick Scott (FL), and J.D. Vance (OH) warned that it would encourage even more illegal immigrants to cross the border, thereby exacerbating the border crisis.

"Why is this bill a terrible bill? Because it does not solve the problem," said Cruz at a press conference, according to The Hill. "This bill was designed not to secure the border. Instead, this bill codified Joe Biden's open borders."

In contrast, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took aim at his Republican colleagues and blamed them for the historic border crisis created by the Biden administration, due to them not wanting to pass the "open borders" deal put forth by the Democrats.

“Apparently Republicans aren’t actually serious about fixing the border because you cannot, you cannot claim to be serious about fixing the border while voting against the kind of border package we have before us today," said Schumer, according to the outlet.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.