Biden Asks Lame Duck Congress to Quickly Expedite Another $38 Billion for Ukraine Plus $9 Billion for Big Pharma
The White House is urging Nancy Pelosi to utilize the lame duck congressional session and construct a massive omnibus spending bill that will wrap Ukraine funding, COVID spending and a federal budget extension via continuous resolution. The request for Ukraine funding is an additional $38 billion.
Federal funds to support FEMA and hurricane recovery efforts will likely be part of the bargaining chips. Essentially, the sausage ingredients are: if congress doesn’t give Zelenskyy more money, then DeSantis will not get federal financial assistance.
If you don’t support Ukraine, you’re a Russian operative.
WASHINGTON DC – The Biden administration sent a letter to Congress on Tuesday outlining nearly a $38 billion request to help Ukraine continue fending off Russian attacks.
The administration is also asking for $10 billion in emergency health funding, with more than $9 billion going toward Covid vaccine access, next-generation Covid vaccines, long Covid research and more. About $750 million would be spent on efforts to control the spread of monkeypox, hepatitis C and HIV.
Congress has so far provided about $66 billion for Ukraine and other war-related needs. The administration argues that about three-quarters of that funding has either been spent or is committed to specific purposes.
An administration official said the White House plans to request additional disaster relief in the coming weeks to help with hurricane and wildfire recovery but didn’t provide any tentative figure.
The administration’s request for emergency money comes as appropriators aim to clinch a year-end government funding deal that would stave off a partial government shutdown on Dec. 16 and increase agency budgets for the current fiscal year. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already promised to provide more money for Ukraine in a government funding package, while some conservatives are arguing that the U.S. should cut off financial assistance and assess how funding for the country has been spent to date. (read more)
The White House announced on Tuesday that it will seek an additional $37.7 billion in aid for Ukraine in the upcoming “lame duck” session of Congress.
According to reports, the proposed aid package would include the following:
- $21.7 billion for equipment and ammunition for Ukraine and to replenish DoD drawdowns.
- $14.5 billion for “direct budget support to Ukraine, critical wartime investments and security assistance as well as to strengthen global food security and provide humanitarian assistance.”
- $626 million for “nuclear security” in Ukraine and modernizing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
- $900 million for health care and support services to Ukrainians.
Keep in mind that these numbers are “authorizations.” Before they become real, Congress has to appropriate the money.
Congress should reject this request.
As I’ve reported before, much of the funding appropriated has yet to be obligated (Defense Department Announces Another $625 Million in Ukraine Aid So Let’s Take a Look at DoD IG Report on Ukraine Spending So Far).In my view, adding more money to the existing pot is not helpful for a lot of reasons.
First, this is being rammed through a lame-duck session. That is not the way a serious government acts or a serious Congress entertains funding requests. Any proposal of this size, particularly in a critical national defense area, must have hearings, so the American public knows what the money is for. For instance, how does the Strategic Petroleum Reserve relate to anything other than Joe Biden stupidly declaring war on oil and gas?
Second, the money that we do spend needs to be independently audited. I’m not opposed to increasing our ability to manufacture munitions and equipment. One wonderful thing about Putin’s War in Ukraine is that it showed that the Defense Department has hollowed out its manufacturing base in favor of multi-billion dollar weapons systems with components produced in 435 Congressional districts. Ukraine has shown us we need to be able to produce millions of rounds of artillery ammunition and hundreds of thousands of GPS-guided rockets.
Third, if the Biden White House is serious about supporting Ukraine (and I think it is something that we must do if we don’t want to have more of these wars on Russia’s periphery), it must make sure the money is not mismanaged or misspent. The stench of corruption will destroy popular support for Ukraine faster than anything Putin can come up with. For example, over the weekend, unsubstantiated stories began circulating that Ukraine had invested US funds in FTX, which then sent the money to Democrat candidates. As far as I can tell, FTX’s role with Ukraine was as a clearing house that converted cryptocurrency contributions to Ukraine into fiat currency. But, in the words of Winston Churchill, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
Fourth, ramming this through a lame-duck session makes this bill seem shady, and it is a direct challenge to Kevin McCarthy, or whoever emerges as Speaker of the House, that Biden refuses to cooperate with the new GOP majority in the House. McCarthy should put the White House on notice that its existence will be a living Hell if it persists in this bullsh**.
The Department of Defense has enough drawdown authority to do what needs to be done through the New Year and the new Congress. Even then, Congress should stop authorizing vast sums of money that can’t be spent prudently in favor of more and smaller amounts. The Biden White House should be forced to report and testify as to what we are doing at each authorization hearing.
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