The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Jack Brumby
House Republican opposition to Ukraine aid is solidifying under Speaker Mike Johnson, who hand-delivered to President Biden a report listing GOP demands before any more taxpayer money is approved for the war in Eastern Europe.
The report, which was authored by Rep. Mike Garcia of California, said Congress would not open the purse strings again for Ukraine unless Mr. Biden answered a dozen questions about his strategy for the war.
Chief among the dozen questions is how Mr. Biden and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy intend to win the war and how long a winning strategy would take.
“Failure to ask these questions, and a continued willingness by Congress to enable this carte blanche mentality to date, is, in my opinion, a dereliction of duty and a recipe for disaster that will enable a Ukrainian defeat and enhance Chinese aggression,” Mr. Garcia said.
Meanwhile, Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas is pressuring Mr. Johnson to bargain for stiffer border policies in addition to the billions of dollars to assist migrants crossing into the U.S. that was included in the president’s request.
Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, also has stressed that the House will not bundle aid for Ukraine and Israel’s conflict with Hamas, as Mr. Biden wants.
The president requested a $106 billion emergency funding package that would tie together aid for Israel, Ukraine and the U.S. border.
Ukraine aid is the dominant portion of the request, accounting for $60 billion compared to $14 billion for Israel.
The aid for Israel’s fight against Hamas is much more popular among House Republicans. As a stand-alone bill, it would likely pass in a strong bipartisan vote.
Republicans have grown skeptical of more aid for Ukraine, with the U.S. already having directed more than $75 billion to help the fight against Russian invaders.
Mr. Garcia’s report demanded an estimate of the cost of a winning strategy, more precise updates on progress in the war, and explanations of why future U.S. investments in Ukraine are necessary and what would happen if the flow of money to Ukraine stopped.
The report was co-signed by Mr. Crenshaw and Reps. August Pfluger of Texas, Jack Bergman of Michigan, Brad Wenstrup of Ohio and Jen Kiggans of Virginia,
They also said that humanitarian aid should be stripped from the current and future funding requests and that funding should be limited to “enabling the killing of Russians on the front lines” with munitions and advanced weaponry.
A $9.15 billion chunk of Mr. Biden’s request would provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Israel and civilians in Gaza. The request did not specify how much of that money would be directed to Ukraine.
“If we continue to blend and dilute the military aid with humanitarian aid, we are not supporting a victory, we are enabling a dependency on American taxpayers and a tie on the battlefield,” the lawmakers said.
Mr. Biden’s request also includes $14 billion for efforts on the U.S. southern border, an addition that the White House hoped would attract Republican support. But Republicans balked that the money was to assist illegal immigrants not secure the border.
Mr. Johnson is expected to press the president for tougher border policies in exchange for more Ukraine spending. Those policies would come from the House’s Secure the Border Act, which passed earlier this year but has not been taken up by the Democrat-run Senate.
“We believe that the House should not move an inch on additional funding unless we include in the package meaningful and effective border security reforms,” Mr. Crenshaw said. “Given the political realities we face, we believe that such reforms are only possible through the legislative vehicle of Ukraine aid.”
