The reaction to idea that Republicans want to shut down aid to the Ukraine sent a chill thru America, NATO and the Ukraine…
It appears the Republican House leader has some explianing to do…..
Reports are that he IS now saying he wants double check money sent to the Ukraine by President Biden….
Not end it…..
A majority Republican House isn’t gonna be such an easy balancing act….
After House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested last week that Republicans might pull back funding for Ukraine next year if they take the majority, the GOP leader has worked behind the scenes to reassure national security leaders in his conference that he wasn’t planning to abandon Ukraine aid and was just calling for greater oversight of any federal dollars, sources told CNN.
McCarthy told key Republican national security committee members – some of whom reached out to McCarthy – that his comments that Ukraine wouldn’t get a “blank check” in a Republican majority were being taken out of context, the sources said. Rather, McCarthy told his members he was simply saying that a GOP-led House would not automatically rubber-stamp a request from the administration for additional Ukraine aid.
“McCarthy was not saying, ‘We wouldn’t spend money.’ McCarthy was saying, ‘We’re gonna be accountable to the taxpayer for every dollar we spend,’” one GOP lawmaker familiar with McCarthy’s thinking told CNN. “A ‘blank check’ means that people get whatever they ask for. What we’re saying is there’s going to be some thought, there’s going to be accountability, and taxpayer dollars are going to be used appropriately.”….
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McCarthy’s effort to soothe the House’s senior defense hawks, which has not been previously reported, underscores the fine line the aspiring speaker is walking on foreign policy as the war in Ukraine appears poised to grind into a second year. But it also offers a preview of the types of policy and political battles to come between the establishment and pro-Trump wings of the GOP, presenting a tricky balancing act — and potential headaches — for Republican leaders in a House majority….
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Last week, McCarthy told Punchbowl News, “I think people are going to be sitting in a recession, and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.”
The comments prompted frantic outreach on Capitol Hill from Ukrainians and European allies alike, sources told CNN, intensifying long-running concerns that a Republican majority in Congress threatens to hamper US support for Ukraine’s war against Russia.
They also led some GOP national security hawks to begin planning a campaign for after the midterm election to ensure that the US doesn’t abandon Ukraine. That includes preparing a combination of education for their new and skeptical colleagues as well as examining ways to increase oversight of where the money and weapons are going inside Ukraine.
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Ukraine skeptics both in Congress and on the campaign trail – along with influential outside voices – are preparing to ramp up their own campaign to try to curtail or outright stop the flow of US dollars to Ukraine.
Republican criticism of funding Ukraine has largely focused on the high costs of prolonging the war, as well as concerns about corruption in Ukraine and the need to devote more resources to domestic challenges. Earlier this month, the House Freedom Caucus wrote to McCarthy urging him to stand up a special inspector general on US involvement in Ukraine….
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Regardless of what it can get approved during the lame-duck session, the Biden administration will likely have to come back to Congress at some point next year to ask for money.
While there is an acknowledgment that oversight will have to ramp up when reconstruction in Ukraine begins – which could be needed even before the war ends due to just how much help Ukraine will need – many congressional aides and administration officials believe that additional layers are not necessary at this time….