Washington: As the Russian invasion continues and Ukraine launches a counteroffensive against the Kremlin's well-entrenched forces, the Biden administration on Thursday requested $8 billion in additional humanitarian aid and over $13 billion in emergency defence aid for Ukraine through the end of the year from Congress. This request represents yet another sizable infusion of funding.
The package includes $12 billion to replenish US federal disaster funds domestically following a deadly heat and storm season, as well as funds to strengthen enforcement at the Southern border with Mexico, including money to stop the flow of lethal fentanyl. It costs a total of $40 billion.
There is a different dynamic at play this time around compared to 2022, when the White House made a similar supplemental spending request for funding for Ukraine.
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The Republican-led House is under intense pressure to show support for the party's leader, Donald Trump, who has been very critical of the war, as a result of the widening political rift on the topic. Additionally, American support for the effort has been eroding gradually.
In a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, White House budget director Shalanda Young urged prompt action to address various needs as well as the US's "commitment to the defence of the Ukrainian people's homeland and to democracy around the world."
The request was made with the intention of winning over both Democrats and Republicans, especially with increased domestic funding for border issues, which is a top priority for the GOP. The Biden administration's strategy for reducing the number of migrants entering the country from Mexico has drawn harsh criticism from the Republicans.
However, the $40 billion price tag might be too much for Republicans who are working to reduce, not increase, federal spending. The package the White House is submitting to Congress as an additional request exceeds the spending limits that both parties agreed to as part of the debt ceiling standoff earlier this year.
Strong bipartisan support existed in the US Senate, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
According to him, "the most recent request from the Biden administration demonstrates America's continued commitment to helping Americans here at home and our friends abroad." This fall, we hope to work with our Republican counterparts to prevent an unneeded shutdown of the government and fund this urgent emergency supplemental request.
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Kentucky Senator and leader of the Senate's Republican party, Mitch McConnell, was more reserved.
In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, "I look forward to carefully reviewing the Administration's request to ensure it is necessary and appropriate to keep America safe, secure our borders, support our allies, and help communities rebuild after disasters.
Sen. Marco Rubio issued a statement urging Congress to swiftly approve crucial funding for disaster relief initiatives while also taking military assistance for Ukraine into consideration.
The United States has repeatedly stated that it will assist Ukraine "as long as it takes" to drive Russia from its borders, according to President Joe Biden and his senior national security team. Secretly, administration representatives have warned Ukrainian leaders that the American public and Congress have a finite amount of patience with the costs of a conflict with no clear end in sight.
According to White House national security spokesman John Kirby, "for people who might be concerned the costs are getting too high, we'd ask them what the costs — not just in treasure but in blood, perhaps even American blood — could be if Putin subjugates Ukraine."
With time, public support for arming and directly funding the Ukraine has waned in the United States. According to an AP-NORC poll taken in January 2023, around the time the conflict had been going on for a year, only 48% of US adults supported the US sending weapons to Ukraine, down from 60% in May 2022. Democrats have generally been more in favour of providing weapons than Republicans, but during the same time, their support decreased slightly, from 71% to 63%. Republican support decreased even more, from 53% to 39%.
Numerous Republicans in the House and some GOP senators have voiced opposition to allocating more federal funds to the war effort, and some have even voted against it. Many of those Republicans share Trump's opposition to American involvement abroad.
In order to ensure approval, any final vote on Ukraine aid will presumably need to rely on a sizable coalition led by Democrats from Biden's party.
By supporting the World Bank and offering assistance to resist Russian-aligned Wagner forces in Africa, the funding includes funds intended to counter Russian and Chinese influence elsewhere. For domestic purposes, an additional $60 million has been allocated to deal with the nationwide increase in wildfires. Additionally, $4 billion is requested for the Southern border, of which $2.2 billion is for border management and $766 million is allocated to halt the flow of fentanyl and offer support for prevention and recovery. Additionally, the Department of Labour has $100 million set aside to increase its investigations into alleged child labour violations.
Congress would likely try to tack the package onto a more comprehensive bill that must pass by October 1 in order to avoid a shutdown of federal offices in the US.
Congressmen have repeatedly questioned Defence Department officials about the degree to which the US closely monitors its aid to Ukraine to make sure that it is not subject to fraud or falling into the wrong hands. Depending on the sensitivity of each weapon system, the Pentagon claims to have a "robust programme" to track the aid as it enters Ukraine and to monitor it once it is there.
In an effort to drive the Kremlin's forces out of the territory they have occupied since a full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine is pressing forward with its ongoing counteroffensive. The counteroffensive has run into reinforced defensive fortifications and heavily mined terrain.
In response to Russia's invasion, the US has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine totaling about $113 billion, some of which will be used to resupply US military equipment that has been deployed to the front lines. The most recent round of aid for Ukraine and NATO allies, totaling about $45 billion, was approved by Congress in December. The package was intended to last until the end of the fiscal year in September, but a lot depends on what happens in the real world.
According to Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, "We remain confident that we will be able to continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes."
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Although there were concerns in November about dwindling Republican support for the bill, it eventually passed. Now, however, House Speaker McCarthy is under pressure to remove Biden from office over unsubstantiated allegations of financial misconduct, and it is unclear whether an immediate show of support for Ukraine could harm McCarthy's political standing in what is anticipated to be a difficult reelection campaign in 2024.
Trump claims that American involvement in the conflict has only pushed Russia closer to other rival nations like China and has denounced the tens of billions of dollars in aid that the US has given to Ukraine.