Biden's push for Ukraine aid stalls in Senate as negotiations over border restrictions drag on
By STEPHEN GROVES, LISA MASCARO and REBECCA SANTANA

The Capitol is seen under a winter sky in Washington, Monday, Dec. 18, 2023, as White House and Senate negotiators are struggling to reach a U.S. border security deal that would unlock President Joe Biden's request for billions of dollars worth in military aid for Ukraine and national security. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden's push to have Congress replenish wartime aid for Ukraine as part of a deal on border and immigration policy changes will almost certainly drag into next year.

The Senate, which had postponed its holiday recess, returned to Washington on Monday after negotiators worked through the weekend on the border legislation, trying to reach an agreement that could unlock the Republican votes for Biden's $110 billion package of aid for Ukraine, Israel and other security priorities.

But senators said they still had plenty of work ahead, and it remained uncertain how many more days the Senate will remain in session this week. Barely half of the senators returned for a Monday evening vote.

"Obviously we need time," said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the top Democratic negotiator.

The delay heaps more uncertainty on the future of the Biden administration's priority of providing support against Russia's invasion. It also puts a potential pause on politically fraught negotiations over immigration and border security policy, though Senate negotiators planned to continue working on the package.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the negotiations were "among the most difficult things we've done in recent memory."

"Everyone knows that something should be done to fix our broken immigration system," he said in a Senate floor speech to start the week. "But we can't do so by compromising our values. Finding the middle ground is exceptionally hard."

The House has already departed for the year as Congress settles into a long winter's break. Lawmakers aren't scheduled to return until the second week of January, and they will then need to tend to other matters besides the Ukraine funding, including facing a partial shutdown in mid-January if Congress can't pass a government funding package.

But as the Senate undertook the first substantial rewrite of immigration and border security law in decades, Republicans insisted they would not agree to rushing legislation.

"Getting this agreement right and producing legislative text is going to require some time," Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor.

Schumer had scheduled additional work days this week in hopes of pushing the Ukraine aid through the chamber, but made no mention of a vote on the package on Monday. He said both Republicans and Democrats would need to make more concessions and it would take "some more time to get it done."

Members of the core Senate negotiating group - Murphy and Sens. Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona independent, and James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican - met with White House staff on Monday and planned to continue meeting throughout the week.

"We're all going to be back in January, but it's going to take a while to be able to finish up all the text," Lankford said.

The weeks-long wait comes as the Defense Department says it has nearly run out of available funds for supporting Ukraine's defense. In a letter to Congress, the Pentagon notified lawmakers last week that will soon be transferring more than $1 billion to replenish stockpiles sent to Ukraine, with no further funds available as it maintains the United States' own military readiness.