House Dems hope to pass $1.5 trillion funding bill by linking it to emergency aid for Ukraine

by mcardinal

Chris Lange, FISM News

 

Congressional Democrats will include $10 billion in “humanitarian, military and economic” aid for Ukraine in its next appropriation bill in an effort to strongarm Republicans into passing federal funding legislation. 

The bill provides $1.5 trillion for defense and nondefense discretionary spending that includes around $12 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine. House Dems offered one concession by agreeing to lower their $22.5 billion request for COVID-19 funding to $15 billion. Failure by Congress to pass the legislation by Friday’s deadline will either require another stop-gap funding bill or result in partial government shutdowns.

Since President Biden took office, Democratic and Republican lawmakers have only agreed to several short-term resolutions, with both parties entrenched in partisan positions on hot-button issues like COVID-19 vaccine mandates and expanding IRS authority over privately-held bank accounts. 

“The United States remains ironclad in our commitment to the Ukrainian people and in unity with our allies,” Pelosi said in a statement. “American troops will not go to war in Ukraine — but our nation can provide military equipment and support our allies who are supplying airplanes to Ukraine.”

Congress has not yet passed a Ukrainian aid package, although the Biden administration authorized sending $350 million in defensive munitions on the second day of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Democrats’ calculated coupling of the mammoth spending legislation with aid for Ukraine is likely to draw ire from the GOP. 

“House Republicans stand ready to do our part to help make sure the Ukrainian people have the arms and munitions they need to defend themselves,” Republican Chief Deputy Whip Drew Ferguson told the Daily Caller in a recent interview. “I would hope our colleagues on the other side of the aisle would deal with this as a standalone issue, get it done quickly, and not tie it into politics,” he continued. “It would be an absolute shame to do that. It would show division in this country at a time when we need unity. If Nancy Pelosi goes down that road, it’s a further signal that she cares more about politics than she does mankind.”

Should Democrats fail to introduce the legislation on Tuesday, the feasibility of enacting it ahead of Friday’s deadline will be further complicated, given that Republicans have demanded more time to review the mammoth federal funding bill before voting. A planned Wednesday retreat for Democrats has already resulted in a curtailment of this week’s floor schedule. 

Democrats are counting on strong public support for Ukraine to exert pressure on Republicans to usher through the sweeping “omnibus” government funding bill, according to Reuters. Four previous bills temporarily extended the previous fiscal year’s funding levels.

An initial vote was due no later than Wednesday in the House of Representatives. The Senate would also need to pass the bill before it can be sent to the White House for Biden’s signature.

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