Congressional backing for aid to Ukraine wrangles amid spending struggles

A strong and longstanding bipartisan consensus in Congress about providing massive amounts of money to support Ukraine’s war effort is beginning to fray as a crucial counter-offensive against Russia is underway, and as Republicans determined to cut federal spending, gain traction in their efforts to limit or block future military aid to Kiev.

Right-wing House Republicans have long opposed U.S. aid to Ukraine, but until recently lacked the numbers to thwart aid packages, which have sailed through Congress with the backing of a critical mass of GOP hawks — including the party’s top leaders — and Democrats. The bill passed this month to suspend the debt ceiling set spending limits that strengthened their hand, and increased political pressure on Chairman Kevin McCarthy to keep tight control of federal spending.

It also reinforced skepticism about new aid to Ukraine among some progressive Democrats, who were angry that the fiscal deal limited spending on domestic programs, such as education, housing and food aid, while allowing military funding to continue to grow. They are now hinting that any future aid to Kiev should come with more non-military spending, a nonstarter with Republicans.

Since the Russian invasion, Congress has provided military and humanitarian aid to Kyiv through a series of emergency measures totaling more than $100 billion. While the Biden administration has not yet asked for money for the next fiscal year, Democratic and Republican congressional aides expect the next request to be smaller, due to battlefield constraints and political difficulties to handle massive spending during justify an electoral cycle.

Mr McCarthy, who last month publicly pledged support for continued US aid to Ukraine, changed his tune after reaching a compromise with President Biden on the debt limit. “Just blowing up the deal.”

The comment reflected a schism festering within the Republican Party between “America First” hardliners, who have pushed to curtail aid to Ukraine and spend those dollars on things like protecting the US-Mexico border. , and traditional conservatives, who see funding Kiev in the war as a vital investment in a struggle to maintain Western-style democracy.

That gap has been widened by the debt-ceiling deal, which enraged hard-right Republicans, who said it wasn’t doing enough to cut federal spending and rioted on the House floor last week, declaring their showed a willingness to bring the room to a halt in the future. if their demands were not met.

Their stance has sparked mild panic, particularly among Republican hawks in the Senate, who are now trying to find ways to free up money for Ukraine within the spending limits of the bill, or forge a bipartisan deal to secure a new round of emergencies. funding beyond those boundaries.

“We need to figure out where we can cut in DOD,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who sits on the Armed Services Committee. cuts in non-military foreign aid programs, “can we make some progress in financing Ukraine.”

Other staunch Republican supporters of Ukraine’s military effort argue that Congress has no choice but to approve additional funding for the war beyond the regular budget given the many competing demands for limited U.S. defense dollars for things like infrastructure modernization, reinforcement of nuclear defense and cyber defense. and deterring opponents such as China.

“Personally, I don’t believe we can manage the Ukrainian aid package that will be needed within the limits set,” said Representative Steve Womack, an Arkansas Republican and member of the Appropriations Committee.

Whatever the final size of the request, there would very likely be enough support in both Houses of Congress to pass an emergency bill for Ukraine if it got the floor. A small number of left-wing Democrats have expressed dismay at the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, but several have supported previous aid packages. Republicans who think the United States should continue to support Ukraine’s war against Russia far outnumber those opposed.

But bringing forward such legislation could prove tricky for Mr. McCarthy, who faces a recalcitrant group of anti-spending Republicans who have pledged to wrest control of the floor from him if he exceeds them.

The Ukraine conundrum complicates what was already shaping up to be a challenging summer as House and Senate committees try to write legislation authorizing funds for the Pentagon and the military while adhering to the $886 billion spending limit set by negotiators for fiscal year 2024. That figure is a 3 percent increase over the current defense budget, but Republican defense hawks argue that it actually amounts to a cut in resources because of higher inflation.

It is also many billions of dollars less than the combined amount spent by the United States over the past year on its own defense and Ukraine’s war effort. That discrepancy sparked a last-minute revolt by some Republicans against the debt limit deal on the Senate floor, blocking the package for hours as the senators demanded guarantees that they would have opportunities to supplement military funding in the future, despite the spending limits in the compromise.

To allay concerns and garner votes to approve the agreement, Senators Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat and Majority Leader, and Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican and Minority Leader, gave: issued a joint statement insisting that the debt ceiling deal “does nothing to limit the Senate’s ability to allocate additional emergency funds to ensure our military capabilities.”

But any move to add additional military spending could also meet resistance from liberal Democrats, who said the debt measure short-changed domestic programs.

“We now have a bill and a law that will frame all of this,” said Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee and the author of previous aid packages for Ukraine. This time, she suggested, such a bill would be a nonstarter “unless there is a willingness to increase domestic spending at the same time.”

In the past, military aid to Ukraine has been matched with money for emergency relief domestically, a combination that many congressional officials say will model the next aid package. But without any guidance from the administration, which has indicated it wants to see how Ukraine’s counteroffensive progresses before coming to Congress with hard numbers, it’s not clear how much additional aid will be needed.

Last month, the Pentagon did an overall reassessment of the value of the military aid it had sent to Kiev from US supplies, coming up with an additional $3 billion in residual authority that would be enough to last until September.

At that point, many lawmakers are predicting that a substantial infusion will be needed.

“One of the things we learned is the amount of ammunition, the amount of equipment destroyed, etc. – there will be a demand for that,” said Senator Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat and the Armed Services Committee chairman.

“We will have to do an additional” spending bill, he added.