The White House on Monday made its latest case to approve more Ukraine aid to combat Russia, telling congressional leaders that funding will run out by the end of the month.
The warning comes as lawmakers scramble in the last two working weeks of the year to find a bipartisan compromise on aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan; humanitarian assistance; and stemming the flow of migrants across the U.S. southern border.
“I want to be clear: 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,” White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said in a letter to House and Senate leaders. “There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money—and nearly out of time.”
Ms. Young added that “cutting off the flow of U.S. weapons and equipment will kneecap Ukraine on the battlefield.”
The U.S. so far has provided Ukraine $111 billion to fight Russia, according to the White House. President Biden has requested another $61 billion as part of a broader $106 billion package.
The Republican-controlled House last month passed $14.3 billion for Israel to combat Hamas, but Senate leaders in both parties have rejected the piecemeal approach. It included the same amount in cuts to the IRS after the tax agency was boosted with $80 billion in Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and other analysts predicted cutting IRS funding would increase the deficit because of less revenue the agency recoups, a forecast that conservatives reject.
A bipartisan group of senators continues to haggle over strengthening border policies like parole and asylum to slash the record influx of illegal crossings, but Democrats have been resistant to significant changes, according to negotiators on both sides of the aisle.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, will hold a vote on Mr. Biden’s package later this week unless an agreement is reached. The measure would likely fail to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold due to a lack of GOP support without the border provisions.
It’s unclear whether the House could pass such a massive foreign spending bill, as House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, has cautioned that conservatives would oppose such a measure.
He responded to Ms. Young‘s plea by saying the administration “has failed to substantively address any of my conference’s legitimate concerns about the lack of a clear strategy in Ukraine, a path to resolving the conflict, or a plan for adequately ensuring accountability for aid provided by American taxpayers.”
“Meanwhile, the administration is continually ignoring the catastrophe at our own border,” Mr. Johnson posted on social media.
Ms. Young made the case that in addition to protecting U.S. interests abroad, funding Ukraine helps the American economy and intelligence community. She said of the $111 billion given to Ukraine, $67 billion went to the American Defense Industrial Base in dozens of states across the country and other Defense Department operations. Of Mr. Biden’s $106 billion request, $62 billion would go to such causes, she said.
“As President Biden has said, when dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they will cause more chaos and death and destruction,” Ms. Young said. “They just keep on going, and the cost and the threats to America and to the world will keep rising. The path that Congress chooses will reverberate for many years to come.”