Biden's new spending request calls for $24 billion in Ukraine funding
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The Biden administration is requesting Congress spend six times more on supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia than on the border and fentanyl crisis plaguing the nation, according to a new emergency spending request submitted Thursday.
In the request sent to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Biden specifically called for $24 billion in aide to Ukraine, split between $13 billion for defense related spending, and $11 billion in economic and humanitarian assistance.
But Biden only requested $4 billion in spending on the border and immigration, as well as combating fentanyl flowing into the United States from foreign origins. The total combined amount of the request reached roughly $40 billion.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
The additional spending request comes after Congress approved $48 billion in funding for Ukraine in December, prior to Republicans taking control of the House of Representatives.
Approval of the funding is expected to be an uphill battle in the House, where McCarthy has promised he would not bring a supplemental Ukraine funding bill to the floor. Many conservatives have been vocally opposed to giving Ukraine more money without more accountability.
President Joe Biden gives his remarks as Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky stands on the side during G7 Declaration of Joint Support for Ukraine during the high level NATO summit in Litexpo Conference Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 12, 2023. (Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Last month, 70 House Republicans voted for an amendment in the annual defense bill that would cut off all funding to Ukraine. It ultimately failed.
The request also comes as mass illegal crossings have continued to surge on Texas' border with Mexico, with all sectors either at overcapacity or about to hit the maximum number of immigrants they can hold.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection source told Fox News on Thursday that there are currently 19,400 migrants in Border Patrol custody, nationwide.
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Fox News Elizabeth Elkind, Bill Melugin and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.
