Speaker Kevin McCarthy Weighs Removing Ukraine Aid from Spending Package, Defying Biden White House

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is considering breaking from the Senate and stiff-arming the Biden White House by leaving out additional Ukraine aid from a stopgap spending bill in favor of a potential standalone vote on yet more aid for the European nation.

If he adopts this tactic, Speaker McCarthy would advance a clean continuing resolution extending current funding levels until later this year that would also include several billions in disaster relief and border security funding intended to entice conservative support. Additional Congressionally-authorized Ukraine aid would require a separate standalone vote that would face long odds in the House as the American people sour on funneling more tax dollars to the foreign war. Taxpayers have subsidized the Ukrainian war effort for well over $100 billion already.

Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, perhaps the most ardent supporter of American financing of Ukrainian war efforts, sides with President Biden, supporting bundling all the White House’s requested aid packages with the spending bill while acknowledging “a difference of opinion in my party” on the significance of the war to America’s national security interests.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) greets President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky as he arrives to address a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol on December 21, 2022, in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In some of his first remarks since suffering a second puzzling freezing episode, McConnell chastised President Biden for “not being decisive enough” on Ukraine, calling for even more funding than has been proposed. McConnell claims “our assistance is being used to good effect” despite the Ukrainian summer offensive being repelled by Russian forces continuing to occupy large swaths of Ukraine.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-SD), a McConnell protégé who has acknowledged ambitions to replace the longtime leader in the future, also favors attaching Ukraine aid to the spending package, arguing “at some point, we’ve got to deal with the Ukraine issue.”

The mood is different in the House, where $4 billion for border security might not be enough to placate some conservatives. As part of his strategy, McCarthy is likely to pursue additional border security funding and policy changes in return for greasing the skids in the Capitol for Ukraine assistance. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), a member of the House Freedom Caucus and the powerful House Rules Committee, insists additional funding alone is not enough and that Republicans must use their leverage to force policy changes on the Biden administration.

“Why would you give more money to a Department of Homeland Security that is not securing the homeland?”

While McCarthy continues determining his path forward, the deadline of September 30 for Congress to act draws nearer. The House reconvenes after a long recess September 12.