In the Republican Party, which is likely to gain control of the lower house of the US Congress after the elections, two camps have formed on the issue of providing aid to Ukraine. Politicians disagree on how long American aid to Ukraine should last. It was announced on Wednesday, October 19 POLITICO with reference to the words of the representative of the US National Security Council.
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — the likely GOP speaker of the House next year — has warned he will cut U.S. funding for Ukraine's fight against Russia. This was not the first signal to the Biden administration that Republican lawmakers are wary of long-term financial support for Kyiv.
At the same time, for many in Congress, McCarthy's comments only reinforced the urgent need to pass another aid package to Ukraine in December, before Republicans are likely to take the reins of the House of Representatives.
Biden aides believe that McCarthy will keep the possibility of aid to Ukraine open, at least for a while, although he may push for less aid. They also predict domestic pressure from Republicans such as Brian Fitzpatrick and Mitch McConnell to keep the money coming. Their calculation is that if the funding stops, Ukraine will suffer and Russia will emerge victorious in the war, dealing a political blow to the Republican Party in general.
Today, it is clear that Republicans are increasingly divided between the McCarthy camp, which has doubts about providing multibillion-dollar new aid to Ukraine as the US economy heads into recession, and the McConnell camp, which remains in favor of more aid.
POLITICO writes that Republicans and Democrats in general want to see additional oversight and reporting when it comes to the weapons and equipment the US sends to Ukraine. They also want European countries to shoulder some of the costs.
The White House has yet to publicly say that the latest statements by Republican Party representatives are changing its plans for a "legislative sprint," which could be the last chance to include major aid to Ukraine in a must-pass spending bill.
The draft law on temporary state financing, adopted at the end of September, included 12 billion dollars for Ukraine. The bill would keep the government funded until Dec. 16 and give negotiators more time to agree on government spending for fiscal year 2023. Lawmakers expected they would not need to consider additional aid to Ukraine until early 2023.
Some Democrats say December may be too early for Kyiv to know what types of weapons and other equipment it will need to fight winter operations. According to Senator Chris Murphy, it may be that the administration will have no choice but to ask for more money in December, but “this may not be the best time for Ukraine. This is a completely new world in which the Republicans openly declare that they are preparing to hand over Ukraine to Putin."
