In the midst of ongoing debates over the defense budget, the Pentagon finds itself struggling to keep up as Congress discusses President Biden’s $106 billion supplemental aid request. However, a top conservative group affiliated with the Heritage Foundation is urging House Speaker Mike Johnson to block the aid package from reaching the House floor. Heritage Action President Dr. Kevin Roberts wrote a letter to Johnson, expressing concerns about the proposed $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, a topic that has become a divisive issue within the GOP.
The aid package includes funding not only for Ukraine but also for Israel, the U.S. border, and humanitarian efforts. Republicans in both the House and Senate have cautioned that the package would not pass on its own. Johnson, for his part, has made it clear that he does not want to bring the full $106 billion package to the floor. Instead, he passed a standalone bill providing approximately $14 billion in aid to Israel by diverting funds from the IRS. Johnson has called for stricter border security measures and asylum laws to be paired with the Ukraine aid.
Conservatives, including a growing number within the GOP, are skeptical about providing continued foreign aid without a clear end point to the conflict. Roberts criticized the breadth of Biden’s funding request for Ukraine, arguing that the European Union should be responsible for providing greater levels of aid to Ukraine. He also called for transparency in how the U.S. contribution has been used and insisted that any military funding for Ukraine should be debated separately and paid for legitimately, without resorting to “emergency” accounting tactics or combining it with other provisions.
Johnson’s response to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, which warned about the serious consequences of withholding U.S. aid from Ukraine, emphasized that supplemental funding for Ukraine is contingent upon transformative changes to the nation’s border security laws. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been appealing to Congress throughout the year for increased funding to combat Russia.
Despite the productive meeting between Roberts and Johnson, there remains a significant divide between Republicans and the Democratic-dominated White House and Senate regarding Ukraine aid. Republicans have advocated for pairing the aid with the House GOP’s H.R. 2 bill on border security and illegal immigration, an idea that the Democrats have rejected.
The debate over Ukraine aid reflects larger ideological differences between Republicans and Democrats on issues such as foreign intervention, government spending, and national security. As discussions continue in Congress, the outcome of this battle will have significant implications for the future of U.S. foreign policy and financial priorities.
Elizabeth Elkind, a reporter for Digital who focuses on Congress and the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and politics, contributed to this article. For the latest updates on the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews, and more political content, follow her on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected].
