House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is planning on yanking further Ukraine funding from a short-term spending bill, but his GOP colleagues in the upper chamber are leery of the move.
Mr. McCarthy’s plan would nix $24 billion in added Ukraine aid requested by the White House from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government open past the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline.
The aid money, which is part of a larger $44 billion request made by President Biden last month that includes billions in disaster funding, would instead be attached to a House border measure.
His plan to break up the emergency funding was first reported by Punchbowl News.
Some Republican lawmakers in the Senate are sympathetic to Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, but don’t want to stymie funding to Ukraine.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told The Washington Times that Mr. McCarthy was right that “we need a robust border” but to toy with Ukraine funding would be bad for national security.
“We should fix it, but you’re wrong to believe pulling the plug on Ukraine doesn’t matter. Look what happened when we pulled out of Afghanistan. Biden made the blunder for the ages. What if we follow that up with pulling the plug on Ukraine, then you’re going to have a chaotic world,” Mr. Graham said.
The notion of removing Ukraine funding from a stopgap spending measure could sate House Republicans who have come out in strong opposition to more federal money flowing to the country while spending and debt pile up in the U.S.
Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana Republican, told The Times that he was “very sympathetic” to his colleagues in the House that are trying to reduce spending and debt accumulation, but he did not want to see Ukraine funding taken off the table to do so.
“Now, how they do that, what they tie it to, there are a lot of different scenarios,” Mr. Kennedy said. “I do not support shutting down the government, I do support giving Ukraine help. I don’t think it’s charity, I think it’s in our national interest.”
The White House has pushed for Mr. Biden’s emergency spending request to be attached to a continuing resolution from Congress and has gone so far as to provide support from the Office of Management and Budget to aid lawmakers in hammering out a deal to prevent a shutdown.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said that Mr. McCarthy “should keep his word” about government funding.
“Lives are at stake across a wide range of urgent, bipartisan priorities for the American people that are addressed in President Biden’s supplemental funding request — a request that honors the funding commitments he and both parties in both chambers made to the American people,” Mr. Bates said on CNN.
All of this comes as Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer insists that bipartisanship is the only way to avoid a government shutdown.
Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat, backs Mr. Biden’s request in a short-term measure as is, and told reporters on Thursday after leaving a briefing on Ukraine that more aid would be needed for the warring country.
“Our aid is making a difference, but we’re at an inflection point and turning back now would have very disastrous consequences,” Mr. Schumer said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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