A single US senator has blocked the fast-tracking of a bill that would allocate $1 billion to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, over proposed assistance to Afghanistan, Politico reported. The House of Representatives passed the bill last week by a vote of 400-9, after the item was removed from the emergency stopgap government funding bill due to opposition from progressive Democrats. Under the “hotline” system, all 100 senators must approve bringing the bill to the floor for an immediate vote. But Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, refused to approve allowing the bill to go straight to the floor for the vote, saying that he wants the money for Iron Dome to be paid for with aid intended for Afghanistan, since that money would go to the Taliban.
A vote on the bill is expected to occur in the coming days and it is expected to pass.