UKRAINE AID ON ICE AS ZELENSKYY COMES TO WASHINGTON Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is headed to the Capitol Tuesday to make his last-ditch pitch for aid. Republicans don’t expect it to move them. In fact, the planned closed-door morning meeting is putting some senators further off, as they say Ukraine aid can’t pass unless it’s connected to significant changes to border policy (and the lead GOP negotiator just told Burgess that “there’s no time” to finish any deal this week). “I think the whole thing is kind of grotesque. We're in the middle of a domestic political argument about how to weigh border security versus some of the foreign policies in the supplemental package,” said Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio). “It's a debate for Americans to have amongst ourselves. And the idea of flying this guy in here at the last minute and effectively to badger and guilt trip us I just find grotesque.” As one Senate GOP aide puts it, the majority of Senate Republicans are supportive of helping Ukraine but feel they cannot ignore what’s happening at the southern border. And they know this is their main hand to play if they want border policy changes. “I don't understand why it is Republicans who have to change their mind as opposed to Democrats,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told reporters. “All Zelenskyy has to do is convince Democrats to have at our border the same protections that we had under the three prior presidents.” What Zelenskyy will say: He will remind lawmakers that Ukraine will run out of money by the end of the year. He’s also slated to speak with Speaker Mike Johnson after the all-senators meeting. But: Lawmakers have heard this before; Ukraine officials have said the country could lose the war without more money. Unless he leans in pretty far and can convince either side to drop their border demands, it likely won’t make much difference. Democrats opposing border: First it was Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.) and Rep. Nanette Barragán (Calif.), two leading Democratic advocates for changes to immigration policy, who slammed the latest GOP proposal on border security measures — then New Jersey Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, who have also come out against linking the measures. Those Democratic lawmakers don’t want to see changes to the country’s asylum and parole measures, something Republicans are insisting has to be part of the package if they’re going to greenlight more Ukraine aid. Democrats share Zelenskyy’s urgency: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) emphasized Monday that Ukraine is running out of time — and that Congress should do something on this before the end of the week. Reminder: Congress is scheduled to go on recess until the new year after this week. “We seem to characterize most political issues as pro or con, yes or no. His issue is a life-and-death issue,” Durbin told reporters. “And when the man says things like that, I believe him. I've seen what's going on over there and the desperation he must feel to think that he's prepared to die for his cause, a cause which America encouraged him to press on.” — Daniella Diaz and Anthony Adragna
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