Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., told Newsmax on Tuesday that aid for Israel should be paid for by pulling funds that have already been allocated for some other item in the budget.
"Of course, we should be paying for it with other funds, repositioning funds that are already in the budget process," Blackburn said during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show." "We have this debt that is piling on top of our children and grandchildren's heads. It needs to be brought under control."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that the upper chamber will begin consideration of an aid package for Israel and Ukraine as early as next week.
"We hope to have a vote next week," Schumer said. "Yes, that's the plan."
Schumer also said he will discuss security at the U.S. border with President Joe Biden and with his Democrat colleagues in the Senate.
Last month, Biden asked Congress to approve $106 billion in aid, including funding for Ukraine as it battles Russia, Israel in its fight against Palestinian militant group Hamas after the group's Oct. 7 attack on the Jewish state, and increased security at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The funding has not yet been approved, and the Republican-controlled House passed a bill that included aid for Israel but not for Ukraine, raising concerns that additional funds for Kyiv might never pass.
The $14.5 billion in aid for Israel passed by the House would be paid for by cuts in government spending elsewhere. Biden has said he would veto the aid package, and Schumer warned that the "stunningly unserious" bill would be dead on arrival in the Senate.
Blackburn said "of course" any aid package "should be paid for," rather than added to the national debt, and also said Israel aid should be considered separately from aid for Ukraine.
"And of course, you should consider what is so important about protecting our southern border and protecting our nation's sovereignty," she added. "Let's put that at the top of the list also."
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