Bipartisan backing for the assistance provided momentum for a broader, $1.5 trillion measure to fund the government through September.
The $1.5 trillion spending bill on track to pass the House on Wednesday has been fueled in large part by bipartisan support for an emergency aid package for Ukraine, which would steer $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian assistance to the war-torn country under assault by Russia. The emergency funds, details of which were released only hours ahead of a vote expected on Wednesday night, are evenly split between military and humanitarian aid, with money earmarked to cover the costs of American troops deployed to Europe and to provide emergency assistance to both Ukrainians still living in the country and those who have fled. The price tag of the package has ballooned from $6.4 billion, the initial request from the White House, reflecting the furious backlash in Congress to Russia’s brutal assault on Ukraine — and how, struggling to unite behind meaningful assistance for Kyiv, Republicans and Democrats have resorted to one of the few substantive tools available to them: sending money and weapons. “The brave, freedom-loving people of Ukraine and our allies in the region will receive urgently needed investments to fight Vladimir Putin and the Russians’ illegal and immoral invasion,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, said in a joint statement detailing the spending. The bill would send $6.5 billion to the Pentagon to cover the costs of deploying American troops to Eastern-flank allies and providing Ukrainian forces with intelligence support, as well as to backfill weapons the United States has already sent to the government in Kyiv.
