Erin Scott Reuters President Joe Biden’s request for $ 33 billion in aid to Ukraine hit an early hurdle in the Capitol, where a dispute over immigration policy threatens to halt an otherwise urgent request for assistance to Kyiv against the Russian invasion. The government’s huge request to Congress, which includes more than $ 20 billion in military equipment such as artillery and armored vehicles, is popular with Democrats and Republicans alike. But Republicans are protesting a new attempt by Democrats to link the $ 33 billion deal to a separate bipartisan compromise that provides $ 10 billion in additional funding for Covid relief. Biden made the couple explicitly on Thursday in his formal request for Ukrainian assistance to Parliament Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “To avoid unnecessary deaths in the United States and around the world, I urge Congress to include this much-needed, life-saving funding for COVID as part of this request for additional funding,” he wrote. Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, helped negotiate Covid relief funding, but the rest of his party is blocking the bill. As part of the debate over more funding for Covid, most Senate Republicans insist on voting in favor of the Biden administration’s controversial decision to end a pandemic-era policy called Title 42, which allowed border guards to remove borders. This is not an attractive option for Democrats and the White House, which has acknowledged that a reversal of Title 42 is likely to lead to an increase in illegal border crossings. Asked about the connection between the two priorities, Pelosi told reporters on Friday that “everything is for that”. “I think it’s very important. We have emergencies here. We have to have Covid money. And time is of the essence,” he said, referring to the ongoing war in Ukraine. “This is called legislation and we need to agree on how to do that.” Neither side of the political corridor wants to see a delay in supporting Ukraine, prompting key Republicans to challenge the Biden administration in its attempt to combine the two efforts. An aide to Senator Whip Minority, John Thune, RSD, told CNBC on Friday morning that the senator would have preferred to vote alone for aid to Kyiv. Senator Schumer’s spokesmen did not respond to a request for comment.
CNBC Policy
Read more about CNBC political coverage: Despite partisanship, Washington’s policy general, Tom Block, believes Republicans and Democrats have little appetite for delaying Ukrainian aid. Block told CNBC he expects Democrats to abandon their efforts to combine aid to Kyiv with coronavirus relief, as Romney, a key figure in the Covid deal, appears to oppose the pairing of the two legislative efforts. “While the Democrats are talking about adding the Covid package to Ukraine’s request, I expect it to decrease around next week,” Block wrote on Friday morning. “I believe that the agreement on Ukraine will be approved by the Memorial Day break at the end of May and will pass by a large bipartisan majority,” he added. Until then, Democrats could try to force the GOP into a politically treacherous position to vote against a bill designed to help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki reiterated the president’s request on Friday that the bill be approved jointly. “We are working hard to get involved, to have discussions with the right members, committees, staff, on the urgent need to move forward with both of these demands,” Psaki said. “The president, of course, put them forward because that is his preference, to move together.”
