Congressional leaders met Thursday with Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden's national security adviser, to discuss the current and future of the war between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the U.S. role in arms shipments. As they expressed after the meeting, one thing became clear: there is " unanimous" support for military and financial assistance to the government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was one of the participants in the meeting and revealed the details discussed. "The briefing made it so clear that we have to continue significant aid to Ukraine," he told reporters after the meeting.
"Our aid is making a difference, but we’re at an inflection point and turning back now would have very disastrous consequences for Ukraine, and in general for our foreign policy." In addition, he clarified the "unanimity on the need for more aid", shared by Democrats and Republicans.
As for funding, Biden sent Congress a request for $ 24 billion last month as part of the $40 billion supplemental funding package. Even if the leadership agrees, it's unclear whether the package has the votes needed to pass both chambers.
Some Republicans have already expressed opposition to combining aid to Ukraine with that of Hawaii or Florida, states that have suffered natural disasters, in the same legislative package. In conversation with The Hill, Marco Rubio (R-FL) defined it as a "mistake" to link all financial aid in the same package. "Disaster relief is something we should have done back in June. It's just to replenish the emergency fund," he added.
Kevin Cramer (R-ND) expressed a similar sentiment, calling for the supplement to Ukraine to be accompanied by local defense spending. "I do think though, having the discussion in that context, or even having it in the context of Ukraine itself is better than having it feel like it’s being forced on us in a CR [continuing resolution] or disaster relief or something like that — that will not fly with members because it won’t fly with the people we work for," he said.
Finally, John Thune (R-SD), Senate Republican whip, acknowledged that rallying all senators in favor of economic aid to Ukraine is becoming increasingly uphill. "I think there's still a large majority, hopefully. But I think it's getting harder and harder," he said.
