US President Joe Biden is asking Congress for more than $24 billion for Ukraine and other international needs as he works to sustain support for the war amid signs of softening support among Americans,
CNN reports.
The request – which includes more than $13 billion in security assistance and $7.3 billion for economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine – sets up a potential battle with Republicans in Congress, some of whom voice skepticism about providing Ukraine any more money. As a counteroffensive wears on and prospects of the war concluding soon appear slim, the funding will act as evidence of whether US support for Ukraine can be sustained.
The new funding request, which will be unveiled later Thursday, will be paired with a $12 billion request for new funding for disaster relief, potentially sweetening the package for skeptical Republicans who have voiced concern about approving more Ukraine aid.
It also includes $3.3 billion meant to fund infrastructure in countries affected by the Russian invasion, an attempt at preventing coercive Chinese lending from taking hold in those nations. And it includes $4 billion in funding for border security.
In total, the supplemental request adds up to roughly $40 billion.
“As the impacts of Russia’s war reverberate around the globe, the United States is committed to maintaining strong global opposition to Russia’s illegal war,” wrote Biden’s budget director Shalanda Young in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Thursday laying out the request.
How long US support for Ukraine can continue has been a pressing and open question among the global coalition that’s rallied behind the country since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Biden has promised support will last “as long as it takes,” but an increasingly skeptical Republican Party has cast doubt on US commitment to the battle.
The leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump, has voiced deep skepticism about US involvement going forward, and promised if elected again he could resolve the conflict in 24 hours though he has not detailed how he would accomplish that feat.
Eager to get behind their party’s nominal standard-bearer, many Republicans have begun questioning the wisdom of spending billions in Ukraine, calling for greater oversight in how US money is being spent or vowing to oppose any further funding.
Administration officials said Thursday it remained unclear how much more funding Ukraine would need from the US to sustain its war going forward.
