WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — A tense funding debate could be on the horizon after President Joe Biden asked Congress to approve a $40 billion package, more than half of which will go to Ukraine.
“I urge Congress to pass this supplemental funding right away,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.
Ukrainian forces are struggling to regain territory captured by Russia. Blinken said the $24 billion in the package — $13 billion for defense aid and $8 billion for humanitarian aid — would help “ensure the Russia’s invasion remains a strategic failure.”
The White House is also asking for billions to replenish the nation’s disaster relief fund to improve border enforcement.
On Monday, the White House said it remains confident the package can pass despite a growing number of Republicans pushing back on aid to Ukraine.
“We’re continuing to engage with members of Congress,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “This has been done in a bipartisan way and we believe that this will continue in a bipartisan way.”
In a Tuesday social media post, U.S. rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., criticized the president’s priorities, saying he’s “giving a one time $700 payment to the poor people who lost everything in the Lahaina fire, but wants to send another $20 BILLION to Ukraine!”
She is among 70 House Republicans who voted to block aid to Ukraine last month and expected to put up a fight when Congress returns in September.
