Biden asks Congress for $40 billion in additional funding

The Biden Administration on Thursday asked Congress to approve more than $40 billion to continue aiding Ukraine in its war against Russia and address border security, among other major issues.

According to the request, while the Administration was able to work with the bipartisan budget agreement, it now hopes to secure supplemental funding that would allow it to abort "critical needs for emergency funding as part of a potential short-term continuing resolution for the first quarter of FY 2024."

The first point to mention was assistance in defense of Ukraine's sovereignty, stressing that funds are needed for humanitarian, economic and security aid.

The Administration clarified that the intention is to allocate $24 billion in assistance. While this item has bipartisan support, the request may not be as well received by some lawmakers who are opposed to continuing to approve new funds without a full accounting of how the $43 billion that had already been allocated to the country has been spent.

The request also includes $12 billion that would be provided to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enable it to respond to future disasters.

The other amount the White House hopes to raise is $4 billion to address the immigration crisis, provide housing and services to homeless migrants, and address other southern border issues, such as measures to counteract fentanyl trafficking.

"We are operating within a fundamentally broken immigration system–everyone agrees on that point–but only the Congress has the power to update our immigration and asylum laws, and we continue to stand ready to work with the Congress on solutions," the document states.

The Administration also requested $45 million through the Department of Agriculture and another $15 million through the Department of the Interior to increase wildland firefighter salaries during the first quarter of fiscal year 2024.