The collapse of support for Ukraine in Congress has been in the works for months, and is exactly what Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had feared.
Mr. McConnell is seeking political support for Ukraine as a small but vocal group of Republicans ramps up efforts to oppose sending U.S. funds overseas to fight Russia. warned that they were in danger.
First in a series of high-profile speeches this summer, then in a direct overture to the White House and a visit to Kiev, Republican leaders who had prioritized U.S. aid to Ukraine took the helm of the party’s far-right wing. I tried.
But ultimately, neither Mr. McConnell, the White House nor Congressional Democrats were able to pass the $6 billion scaled-back civilian aid package for Ukraine agreed last week to avert a U.S. government shutdown. .
Despite overwhelming bipartisan support in Washington to thwart Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, aid to Ukraine remains a challenge for the regime as it seeks to lead the Western alliance in defending its young democracy as fighting intensifies. The failure to approve was a major setback.
Additionally, a tight-knit group of Republicans in the minority in Congress, many of whom are allied with 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump, will flex their power to defeat the will of the majority. It also points to the dangers that await Washington. The next step is highly uncertain.
President Joe Biden acknowledged last week that “that’s certainly a concern.” “But we know that a majority of members of both parties, in the House and Senate, have said they support funding for Ukraine.”
Biden is preparing to deliver a major speech on U.S. aid to Ukraine and is developing plans to ensure aid flows after the chaos at the Capitol interrupted by the removal of Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He said that.
The sudden shift has sparked political criticism of the White House and Congress’ inability to sidestep minority lawmakers who are putting aid at risk as Washington regroups.
“We don’t need another dime for Ukraine!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Green), a powerful ally of President Trump, said the money should be spent on securing the border with Mexico instead. He claimed that.
McConnell, R-Ky., had been trying to build support for Ukraine for months after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev in May.
The senator has given repeated floor speeches, spoken with allies overseas and made the case a priority among his colleagues on Capitol Hill. Mr. Zelensky received a hero’s welcome last year and came with an additional appeal weeks before the fundraising showdown.
But after the White House announced Biden’s $24 billion aid request for Ukraine in August, McConnell knew he wouldn’t get the support he needed to pass it, according to an anonymous person familiar with the matter. That’s what it means.
Mr. McConnell has been meeting with a group of Republican defense hawks in the Senate ahead of an end-September deadline to fund the government or risk a government shutdown, a time normally reserved for the White House. A spending request for Ukraine was also expected to be passed.
But Republican senators left McConnell with what they perceived as a lack of support for the overall Ukraine funding.
A week before the deadline, Mr. McConnell told Mr. Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, in a phone call Friday that Congress would pass the full $24 billion request, according to people familiar with the matter. “It’s impossible,” he said.
Instead, Mr. McConnell encouraged the White House to “strongly” consider whether it could rely on the transfer of Ukraine aid through existing fund transfers or reprogramming methods in the short term, the official said. .
The White House held a series of meetings with Mr. McConnell’s team over the weekend to consider smaller funding and insist that support for Ukraine is essential.
Mr. McConnell agreed to do what he could. A few days later, the Senate moved forward with a short-term policy to open up the government, giving Ukraine $6 billion until Nov. 17. It passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support.
But the problem is that Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill have not made Ukraine clear enough as a top priority as they resist House Republican demands for deep budget cuts to keep the government running. That’s what I didn’t do.
And Mr. McCarthy, R-Calif., had his own problems in the Republican-led House.
Greene and other House hawks had effectively forced McCarthy to strip a much smaller amount of $300 million in Ukraine security assistance funding from the annual defense funding bill.
It was a stark example of how the party’s roughly 100 increasingly powerful Republicans are wresting control from a majority that broadly supports the bill.
It was a sign of trouble to come.
Looking ahead to a government shutdown with potentially devastating effects, a beleaguered Mr. McCarthy announced he would receive $6 billion in aid to Ukraine from a federal funding package ahead of a House vote to keep the U.S. government open. was deprived of.
As the House prepared to avoid a shutdown last Saturday, Mr. McConnell convened Republican senators for a private lunch.
McConnell talked about the need to keep Ukraine aid in the final package, but it was clear his views were not well received.
The Republican second-in-command, Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, had met with Mr. McCarthy, including earlier that morning, and understood from the speaker that the package could not pass without the Ukraine aid attached. Was.
Mr. Thune told Republican senators that the Ukraine funding was the best way to avoid a government shutdown, according to a Republican familiar with the closed-door meeting, who asked not to be identified. He is said to have expressed his belief that the House bill should proceed without using the term.
The No. 3 Republican, Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, quickly agreed, according to another Republican lawmaker authorized to discuss the conversation on condition of anonymity.
McConnell listened to his colleagues and reversed course.
McConnell came out after lunch and said Republicans would vote against consideration of the Senate bill as they wait to see how their House colleagues do.
That afternoon, the House approved the package, hours before a midnight deadline to reopen the government. Aid to Ukraine was cut off.
The final bill removed not only $6 billion in aid to Ukraine, but also pages of documents outlining possible transfers of funds to Ukraine.
That was exactly what McConnell was trying to avoid.
The White House later revealed that Mr. McCarthy had made promises regarding Ukraine that went beyond what was in the package.
But when reporters asked McCarthy about this, he said there was no “secret deal” with Biden regarding Ukraine.
What was there, McCarthy explained, was a guarantee that the ability to send funds to Ukraine would not be compromised. If there’s any confusion about that, “we’ll fix it,” he said.
The next day, Mr. McCarthy was ousted from office, citing long-simmering dissatisfaction with his leadership, and a solution to the Ukraine funding remained unclear.
Biden is scheduled to give a speech on aid to Ukraine. The White House is waiting for the House to select a new speaker. And he is working with Congress to ensure the transfer of funds and provide new aid to Ukraine.
