The border bill that was negotiated between Senate Republicans and the White House is "not acceptable," but there is a need to approve a spending bill to support U.S. allies in Ukraine and Israel, Sen. Pete Ricketts told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Democrats he plans to force a vote on a stripped-down bill removing border security provisions.
"We need to make sure that we're giving the Ukrainians the weapons they need to continue to fight the Russians," the Nebraska Republican told "Wake Up America," adding that the fighting between the countries has the potential to become a "World War III" if not contained.
"[Vladimir] Putin is a dictator," Ricketts said. "We saw what happened in World War II with [Adolph] Hitler. If we don't stop Putin in Ukraine and he invades a Baltic state nation, that's World War III. As expensive as this is, World War III is more expensive."
Schumer, D-N.Y. told Senate Democrats he plans to force the stripped-down bill after Republicans said they would block the full bipartisan foreign aid and security bill Wednesday afternoon, reports NBC News, quoting a Senate Democratic aide.
The procedural motion would need 60 votes to adopt, which would begin the process for a vote later this week on a slimmed-down supplemental aid package which would also include money for Taiwan.
President Joe Biden could close the southern border now, if he wanted, as former President Donald Trump did, said Ricketts.
"Giving the president the authority is not an issue here," he added. "Part of the problem with this bill is that we don't have a lot of faith that the president is going to do the things in it."
The bill also would give the president to waive the emergency at the border and to allow him to use blanket parole, rather than determining parole for immigrants on a case-by-case basis, the senator said.
"We just don't have a lot of faith in this president because he isn't doing his job now," said Ricketts. "There are some good things in [the bill] but not enough to offset the fact that this bill doesn't get the job done."
Ricketts said he has not yet seen the text of Schumer's proposed alternate legislation, and it could be that the plan includes already-presented spending.
The bill must also ensure that no money goes to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for the Palestinians, after the revelations that some workers had been involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, said Ricketts.
"I want to ban funding to that forever permanently," he said. "The previous bill did say that none of this money would go to it, which is a step in the right direction, so that would be another condition. That's got to be in there or we're probably not going to have a deal on this bill."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE -- See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.