The White House is pushing Congress to direct more funds to Ukraine as Biden continues to use America’s migrant crisis to leverage support for the war, according to a letter obtained by Politico.
White House budget chief Shalanda Young addressed a Monday letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and leaders of the Senate, warning that without congressional action, the United States will run out of resources to keep backing Ukraine in its war against Russia, Politico reported.
President Joe Biden proposed a $106 billion supplemental spending package in October after Hamas attacked Israel. The package includes more than $61 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine, $14.3 billion aid for Israel and $1.4 billion for state and local governments struggling to handle an influx of migrants. (RELATED: ‘Slaps You In The Face’: Biden Can’t Seem To Get Americans To Care About His Pet Issues, Strategists Say)
“I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from U.S. military stocks,” Young wrote. “There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money—and nearly out of time.”
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who received a version of the letter, plans to hold a vote on Biden’s package as early as this week, Politico reported.
Members of Congress pushed back on Biden’s initial package, criticizing the president for exploiting Israel’s war with Hamas to direct more money to Ukraine. In 2022, Congress approved a funding package to Ukraine totaling more than $112 billion, according to NPR. The White House has previously warned that the funding to Ukraine is running out.
Polling suggests that U.S. funding for Ukraine’s war with Russia has grown increasingly unpopular. In October, 41 percent of Americans said the U.S. is doing too much to help Ukraine, while only 25 percent said the U.S. is doing too little, according to Gallup. In Aug. 2022 — six months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion — the numbers were almost exactly reversed, with 24 percent of respondents saying “too much,” while 38 percent answered “not enough.”
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky after a meeting in the East Room of the White House September 21, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Young’s letter makes no mention of the migrant funding included in Biden’s foreign aid package. Democratic leaders in Chicago and New York City — both of which are being overwhelmed with migrants — previously told the Daily Caller that they felt snubbed by the president’s decision to tie federal aid for migrant-swamped cities to funding for foreign wars.
“We are out of money to support Ukraine in this fight,” Young wrote on Monday. “This isn’t a next year problem. The time to help a democratic Ukraine fight against Russian aggression is right now. It is time for Congress to act.”