$25B in Ukraine aid hangs in balance in Congress amid visit from Zelenskyy
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
After a series of meetings and media appearances in New York, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Washington, D.C., to rally support for more military and humanitarian aid for his country.
His visit comes as House Republicans have refused to pass $25 billion in supplemental spending that President Joe Biden requested for Ukraine.
Congress has to either approve 12 spending bills or push forward a stopgap bill within the next 10 days to avoid a government shutdown. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has indicated that the House is pursuing the second option to give lawmakers more time to negotiate on the dozen appropriations bills.
Two groups in the Republican Conference — the House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus — came to a consensus over the weekend. Together, they outlined a continuing resolution to fund the federal government until Oct. 31, as the Deseret News reported.
This proposed stopgap bill cuts spending for non-defense sectors and requests a list of measures to tackle border security. But it does not include the $25 billion for Ukraine.
Related
President Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly that Russia is weaponizing everything
Republicans on abortion: Pro-life, pro-choice or multiple choice?
GOP representatives block Ukraine supplemental aid
The White House and the Democrat-controlled Senate have said they will not approve the proposed stopgap bill without revisions.
Meanwhile, McCarthy said he doesn’t know if he has enough votes to get it through the House.
“It’s a good thing I love a challenge,” McCarthy said on Monday, per ABC News. “Every day will be a challenge. We’ve got a long week. We are not at Sept. 30 yet but I’ll tell everybody I’ve never seen anybody win a shutdown.”
Nearly 50 Republican representatives voted no on the supplemental funding, according to a scorecard published by Republicans for Ukraine. This scorecard graded GOP congressional lawmakers based on their positions on supporting Ukraine.
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who has introduced a bill that would cut off all funding to Ukraine, scored an F on the scorecard.
“People are completely against spending more money on Ukraine, with all of our existing problems here at home,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who also scored an F, told the Washington Examiner. “And so my role will be being a very loud voice, urging my colleagues in Congress to vote no. And making sure that everyone knows which Republicans want to send their hard-earned tax dollars over to Ukraine, which Democrats want.”
She added that it was an “absolute nonstarter” for many Republicans.
Related
As for McCarthy, he has given mixed signals about where he stands on sending aid to Ukraine, saying time and again, that he doesn’t support “blank checks.”
The group Republicans for Ukraine is spending $1 million in ad campaigns on conservative television shows and outside the district offices of Republican leaders like McCarthy — all to persuade Congress to continue supporting Kyiv.
“Now is a pivotal time for Americans, especially Republicans, to support Ukraine,” said Gunner Ramer, a spokesman for Republicans for Ukraine, in a press release.
“For just 5% of our annual defense budget, America has helped Ukraine destroy half of Russia’s army and liberate its territory and people. That’s a great return on investment for American national security.”
Rep. John Curtis, a Republican who represents Utah’s 3rd Congressional District, received an A on the scorecard, while Blake Moore, who represents the 1st District, received an A, and Burgess Owens of the 4th District received a B-.
Senate leaders to meet Zelenskyy
Apart from a few groups of lawmakers, a majority of GOP representatives backed the supplemental funding to Ukraine.
Since the Republican Conference only has a roughly four-vote margin in the House, McCarthy will have to tread carefully to get his chamber in order and avoid a government shutdown.
McCarthy has no plans to sit with Zelenskyy while he is visiting Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, the upper chamber displays a united front, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., get ready to host the Ukrainian president on Thursday morning.
“At the very same time that President Zelenskyy comes to the United States to make the case for standing firm against Putin, the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives is essentially telling him you’re on your own,” Schumer said in his floor remarks on Tuesday.
“Ukrainian aid could have been an opportunity for bipartisanship, but the hard right, against what I imagine is the majority of Republicans in the House, has prevented that from happening too,” he continued, adding that the continuing resolution that House proposed “has no chance of passing the Senate.”
The tug-of-war in Congress over the supplemental aid to Ukraine will delay funding for Kyiv in the coming months.
