The US president is reportedly seeking at least $25 billion in additional funding
FILE PHOTO. Ukraine-bound pallets of 155mm artillery shells and fuses pictured at a US military base. © AP / Alex Brandon
US President Joe Biden is seeking significant additional funding from Congress, including for Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The president reportedly intends to ask for at least $25 billion from legislators.
The request for supplemental funding is said to include around $12 billion for disaster relief, as well as $13 billion for defense funds. The latter package will reportedly involve more funds to prop up Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. However, it was not immediately clear how much would specifically be allocated for Kiev.
The Biden administration has thus far provided around $100 billion in funding for Ukraine during the conflict with Russia. Congress passed the latest and by far the largest package of $45 billion in December.
The ballooning costs of supporting Ukraine have seen growing opposition among Republicans, with repeated calls for better oversight of spending. In June, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed to block any bill that would undercut new caps on US spending, and warned that any request to allocate more funds for Ukraine would be carefully scrutinized.
“You don’t get to just throw money and say somebody needs money. What about the money we have already spent? What is the money for and what is victory?” McCarthy asked.
Reports of an impending request for more Ukraine aid follow a damning poll commissioned by CNN and published last week, which showed that the majority of Americans believe Congress should not authorize additional funding for Kiev.
The White House has attempted to downplay the results of the survey, insisting that American backing for Ukraine remains as “solid” as ever. Enduring support is “not just important to the people of Ukraine, but it’s important to our European allies and partners, particularly our NATO allies, given that this fighting is on the on the doorstep of many of those NATO allies,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.
“We have we have seen throughout this war solid support from the American people, solid support from the Congress in a bipartisan and bicameral way for continuing to support Ukraine, and we’re going to stay focused on that,” Kirby added.
