Biden is considering one giant aid package to help Ukraine until next year

U.S. aid to Ukraine has been hamstrung by party politics in Congress but the President and his administration are working on a solution that could keep support to Kyiv flowing until the next presidential election according to The Telegraph. 

Joe Biden is reportedly considering proposing a single major spending package to fund Ukraine’s war effort through to the next presidential election so that he can avoid any of the issues that may arise in a Republican-dominated Congress. 

War funding for Ukraine has become a significant national political issue in the United States with support for the country becoming increasingly unpopular among Republican voters. The latest polls show support for helping the Ukrainians is dropping. 

On October 4th, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs released new survey information that showed support for providing Kyiv with additional weapons and aid stood at roughly 50% of Republicans, an 18-point drop from polling in July 2022. 

Overall, most Americans support providing additional arms and more military supplies to Ukraine with 63% of the survey’s participants responding so. But that percentage is also down from a high of 72% of U.S. adults surveyed in July 2022. 

All things considered, support for the war is still important to Americans but their political class has gotten in the way of funding. But the recent drama with the U.S. budget revealed that a vocal minority could block support for Ukraine in Congress. 

Emily Ashton of Bloomberg News reported that the move to abandon a $24 billion dollar aid package for Ukraine in order to prevent a government shutdown concerned many of the country’s allies who worry it could indicate a policy shift. 

“It took most of us by surprise, those who are supporting Ukraine,” explained Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis by phone to Bloomberg on October 2nd while in Kyiv as part of a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers. 

“It could have raised some cheers in those countries who do not support Ukraine or wish them anything else but victory,” Landsbergis added. “It can be rectified, obviously, but it shows the difficulty of the discussion.”

It does look like Biden and his administration are trying to rectify the issue with a single spending package that could avoid the types of party politics that would threaten to cut off Ukraine from the American support it needs to win the war. 

“The ‘big package’ idea is firmly supported by many throughout the administration,” one source familiar with discussions told The Telegraph. “Supporters of Ukraine want this to be a one-and-done big bill, and then not have to deal with it until after the next election.”

However, an unnamed White House official also told The Telegraph that Biden wouldn’t make a decision about whether or not he would propose a large funding bill and the cost of such a bill until after the House Speaker position was filled. 

The source did confirm that a single large spending bill was an option being considered by the President. But the Telegraph noted that any such bill would be opposed by some Republicans and likely force concessions from Biden on key issues just to get a vote. 

If a potential funding bill were to be put to a vote, it would probably pass according to The Telegraph, which noted that it would have the support of nearly every Democrat as well as the support of roughly half of Republicans. 

On October 9th, The Wall Street Journal reported that Senators from both parties were worried about upheavals in the house and believed a yearlong funding package for the Ukrainians would be the best way to move forward. 

“I want to be one and done,” explained Senator Lindsey Graham. “I want to get them through next fighting season, through next year, so the Russians would realize this gets worse for them, not better.” Whether or not this will happen has yet to be seen. 

“A lot of us feel like there is some logic there: Rather than try to do this in small bites that may get harder and harder and harder, let’s just be candid with people about what the longer term need is and see if we can do it,” said Senator Tim Kaine.