Biden appeals for Ukraine aid, says Congress’ reluctance is ‘stunning’

The White House has warned that it will run out of funding for Ukraine by the end of the year, stressing that it does not have money elsewhere that it can allocate to the war without congressional approval.

The president’s remarks Wednesday came shortly after Biden met virtually with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and leaders of the Group of Seven powerful democracies. Biden said European leaders — who also face pressure from their citizens as the war contributes to rising food and heat costs — were prepared to maintain support for Ukraine, though he suggested that might change if the U.S. bows out.

“If Putin takes Ukraine, he won’t stop there. It’s important to see the long run here. He’s going to keep going,” Biden said. “If he moves into other parts of NATO, make no mistake: Today’s vote is going to be long remembered. History is going to judge harshly those who turned their back on freedom’s cause.”

The president’s comments reflect the increasing concern within the White House that Congress will not pass another supplemental aid package to ensure Ukraine can continue fighting against Russia’s invasion, a war that has lasted nearly two years. Throughout the conflict, the White House has managed to secure billions of additional dollars from Congress and has not confronted the crisis it says it is facing now in maintaining U.S. support for Ukraine.

While there was broad bipartisan support for Ukraine after Russia invaded in February 2022 — as well as widespread public displays of support for Ukraine — interest in the war among the American public has waned considerably, especially as it has ground to a stalemate with no clear end.

An Economist/YouGov poll released late last month found that 22 percent of Americans favored increasing military aid to Ukraine, 28 percent favored decreasing it and 27 percent wanted to maintain the same amount.

Congressional Republicans — particularly those in the House of Representatives — have become increasingly opposed to Ukraine aid throughout the war, making it more difficult for the White House to get its supplemental requests passed. There was little resistance to aid packages for Ukraine in 2022, but the issue has become considerably more polarized the longer the war has continued.

Later Wednesday, Senate Republicans are expected to block a procedural vote to advance a $110.5 billion national security bill that included supplemental funding for Ukraine and Israel, as well as humanitarian aid for Gaza humanitarian and money for the U.S.-Mexico border.

Senate Republicans have said they will oppose advancing the measure because it includes no changes to U.S. policy on the border.

The White House has long faced difficulty garnering support from Republicans for continued aid to Ukraine, as GOP members of the House and Senate express skepticism over the scale of the funding and how it has been allocated. Republicans have sought to tie the aid negotiations to U.S.-Mexico border policy changes — an issue on which Congress has failed to take broad-ranging action for decades.

On Monday, the White House issued an urgent warning to Congress about Ukraine’s need for additional aid to help it resist Russia’s invasion, with Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young bluntly writing in a letter to congressional leaders that the United States is “out of money to support Ukraine in this fight.”

In the letter, Young wrote that “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.”

The Biden administration requested nearly $106 billion, which includes about $61 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, roughly $14 billion for immigration priorities and $10 billion for humanitarian aid, as well as more funding to counter China’s influence in Asia and the developing world. The number was far larger than what even many Democrats originally anticipated.

The Ukraine aid issue has been a continued point of contention in the current Congress. In September, under pressure from House Republicans, lawmakers agreed to strip Ukraine aid from a bill to continue funding the government and avert a shutdown. The rejection came nine days after Zelensky flew to Washington and pleaded with lawmakers to maintain aid.

Maegan Vazquez contributed to this report.