Congress eyes billions in emergency humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine

Congressional lawmakers are eyeing an emergency spending and military-aid package to bolster Ukraine as it fights backs against a Russian invasion.

Appropriators from both parties agree that the U.S. should offer the Ukrainian government sufficient help to stave off collapse.

“My colleagues and I are carefully monitoring the situation and stand ready to provide assistance both to our Ukrainian partners and to our allies in Central and Eastern Europe as they confront this crisis,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Connecticut Democrat and House Appropriations Committee chairwoman.

The White House initially proposed to send $750 million in foreign aid to Ukraine as part of this year’s budget. Now that figure is likely to grow significantly, with money earmarked for both humanitarian aid and weapons for the Ukrainians to use against the Russians.

Lawmakers also want the emergency package to include sufficient penalties and sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s top oligarchs. While President Biden has ratcheted up sanctions in recent days, lawmakers say more needs to be done.

“The emergency supplemental needs to help our allies, needs to provide more assistance to Ukraine,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican. “We need to create a mechanism for Putin and his cronies to pay a heavy price to deter further aggression.”

The overall package is likely to be somewhere in the billions. Administration officials are eyeing more than $1 billion alone for humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies, to the Ukrainian people.  

“As always, we will continue to fully support the people of Ukraine with humanitarian assistance and weapons to defend their country,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat.

Time poses a problem, however, since Congress is currently out of session.

Lawmakers are set to return to Washington on Monday. That means the earliest an aid package can become law is at the end of next week, provided no procedural hang-ups emerge in the evenly split Senate.

“If we are not doing everything possible, we are not doing enough,” Mr. Graham said. “Time is not on our side.”

Complicating matters is that lawmakers are unsure how long the Ukrainian government can survive in the face of a full-scale Russian invasion. Some military analysts say the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv can fall within days.

While U.S. defense officials say that Ukrainian forces have fought off some of the invading Russian troops, the overall situation remains tenuous.

“We’ve seen indications that they are resisting and fighting,” a U.S. official told reporters at the Pentagon. “We’re going to look to [continue] to provide both lethal and non-lethal assistance.”

Lawmakers say that any aid package must move independently of other spending bills because of concerns over how long Ukraine can hold out under siege. They argue that Congress will have to fast-track the deal to get aid to the Ukrainians as fast as possible.

“We need to get this done in the Senate next week,” Mr. Graham said.

Some congressional Democrats want to wait for Mr. Biden to make the first move on an aid package. The president is set to journey to Capitol Hill next week to deliver his first State of the Union address.

Democrats say that Mr. Biden should be allowed to lay out his proposal to ensure that any aid package dovetails with efforts the administration has already undertaken to penalize Russia and help the besieged government of Ukraine.

GOP lawmakers say that Ukraine cannot wait, especially after Mr. Biden delayed a lethal aid package to the country last year.

“Ukraine needs more than just our prayers right now,” said Rep. Michael Waltz, Florida Republican. “What they need is the lethal aid I’ve been asking the Biden administration to send for months and debilitating sanctions on Putin and his oligarchs to hit them where it really hurts — their wallets.”