Despite a long filibuster by Republican Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Mike Lee (R-UT), J.D. Vance (R-OH), and others, the Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill early Tuesday morning. Over $60 billion in aid would go to Ukraine, with the rest split between Taiwan and both sides of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Not that a nation $34 trillion in debt and running a $1.6 trillion deficit should be passing massive spending bills, regardless of their contents, but it should be noted that this bill does not include any border control measures pushed by Republicans. 

Spending by both parties has been out of control for so long that “$95 billion in foreign aid” doesn’t make the average American blink, but we should look at this bill in comparison with our own defense spending. The annual budget of the U.S. Marine Corps is $52.3 billion. In fact, you can take the USMC budget along with the U.S. Coast Guard ($13.45 billion) and the combined budget of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement ($25 billion) and still come well short of what 70 senators, including 22 Republicans, have decided to send overseas.