President Biden on Thursday asked Congress to approve about $40 billion in additional spending, including $24 billion in funding for Ukraine and other international needs.
The $40 billion request also includes $4 billion related to border security and $12 billion for disaster relief.
The White House said the Administration was hopeful that an agreement could be reached on the spending, which covers just the first quarter of the current 2024 fiscal year.
However, that request could face opposition among far-right Congressional Republicans who have attempted to cut off funding Ukraine’s war against Russia’s invading forces.
Just last month some 70 GOP lawmakers backed a proposal to end funding for Ukraine, but it was unsuccessful amid the bipartisan passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that sets the U.S. military budget.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said their was strong bipartisan support in the Democratic-led upper chamber to do more to support Ukraine. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said in a statement that he looked forward to reviewing Biden’s request “to make sure it is necessary and appropriate to keep America safe, secure our borders, support our allies, and help communities rebuild after disasters.”
However, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last year warned that there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine after the Republicans took majority of the lower chamber earlier this year. “We want to make sure there’s accountability for everybody, the money that is spent,” McCarthy had said.
In June McCarthy again signaled that any further funding for Ukraine would face tough challenges in the House.
Congressional lawmakers, who are currently out of session on August break, have until September 30 to reach an agreement on funding next year’s federal budget or face a government shutdown.
That deadline comes after the government in June narrowly avoided defaulting on the nation’s debt for the first time in U.S. history.
