Report: Biden to Ask for Another Ukraine Aid Package ‘North of $10 Billion’
Joe Biden will soon ask Congress for a Ukraine aid package that could exceed $10 billion, a report released Tuesday found.
Punchbowl News reported the Ukraine aid battle will resume when Congress returns from recess. The incoming request, which could be “north of $10 billion,” follows as Ukraine continues its slow-moving counteroffensive against Russia, and America and other NATO countries have pledged support for Ukraine.
The Army’s acquisition chief told reporters on Monday that the Department of Defense was working on a funding package for lawmakers to consider. The package would be used to replenish American weapon stockpiles which have been depleted after providing munitions to Ukraine’s protracted conflict with Russia.
The United States has provided more than $110 billion in aid to Ukraine even as voters go sour on the prospect of even more taxpayer dollars being spent to aid the Kyiv regime.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has said that any additional Ukraine funding should have to go through regular order, or the appropriations process, and not a supplemental package.
Seventy House Republicans voted to cut off funding for Ukraine in July, making the expected Ukraine aid battle highly contentious.
In contrast, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has slammed the current defense cap set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the debt ceiling deal struck by McCarthy and Biden, and has pushed a robust aid package to Ukraine.
A Ukraine aid package would also require generous floor time as both chambers of Congress needs to pass appropriations bills to avoid a government shutdown by the end of September.
A poll released last week found that a majority of Americans oppose sending more aid to Ukraine.
Kelley Vlahos, a senior adviser for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, contended that the poll does not bode well for Biden.
“The poll also doesn’t bode well for Biden’s handling of major foreign policy issues,” Vlahos explained. “Some 53 percent disapprove of how he is handling the war in Ukraine; 56 percent disapprove of how he is handling Russia; and 57 percent disapprove of how he is handling the relationship with China.”
