newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Republicans have questioned President Biden’s urging Congress to approve nearly $12 billion in additional aid to Ukraine this month, fearing it’s time to benefit Democrats ahead of November’s midterm elections. presenting.
Republicans are concerned that the White House is pushing the aid package. Because they know some Republicans will vote against without proper accountability indicators for how the funds are spent. It will be used to unfairly denigrate all Republicans as isolationists or agents of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“This latest call from President Biden is nothing more than a superficial midterm election gimmick that will only hurt our country in the short and long term,” said Ariz Republican Rep. Andy Biggs. .
Republican lawmakers say the timing of the funding request must be taken in the context of Biden’s recent actions, particularly his attempt to portray MAGA Republicans as a threat to democracy.
Russians Set Way to Convert Wire Transfers to Chinese Yuan, Provoking Alliance Fear
“In the past five weeks, the federal government has raided the former president’s home… [forgave] At the same time, the president is saying half the country is ‘semi-fascist,'” said Republican Rep. Scott Perry, chairman of the House Liberty Committee. [around this aid bill] It looks very political.”
A spokesman for the White House National Security Council told Fox News Digital that the funding request is based solely on what Ukraine needs on the battlefield to defend itself against Russian aggression.
Biden is asking Congress to approve $11.7 billion in military and economic aid to Ukraine by Sept. 30. This $11.7 billion is on top of his $2 billion extra that the White House is requesting to address the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the US energy supply.
Biden and Democrats in Congress have spent nearly $3.8 trillion on their agenda since the day they took office
The new funding request comes after Congress passed $40 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in May. $7 billion more than was expected.
Overall, 57 Republicans in the House and 11 Republicans in the Senate voted against the package. Many argued that sufficient accountability measures were lacking to prevent corruption. A last-minute push within the Senate to create an inspector general to oversee aid was blocked by Democrats.
After the bill passed, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “More and more MAGA Republicans appear to be on the same soft playbook against Putin used by former President Trump.
Republicans are now concerned that Biden is set to face a similar attack just before the midterm elections. It concentrates on the fact that it did not clearly state how long it would take for the first round of aid to Ukraine to run out.
“We all want to help. We are all appalled by what Russia has done in Ukraine,” Perry said. “But we also have to grapple with accountability to American taxpayers and where and how their money is spent.”
Administration officials have argued that the ambiguity stems from the fluid nature of the war. increase.
Shalanda Young, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, issued a statement last week saying that “about three-quarters of the aid that Congress previously provided to Ukraine has been paid or pledged.”
“The emergency here is recognized by Congress and by a large bipartisan coalition across the country in the name of underlying American values that transcend any political party. We’re asking for this help in the name, just like innocent people are being slaughtered,” an administrative source close to Biden’s orbit told Fox News Digital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Republicans say the White House has done little to provide Congress with transparency about how the money is spent. They also say that the administration did not explain their strategy to end the war, claiming voters began to take notice.
“You use it as an election issue all you want,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “I can tell the voters in Missouri, I get asked about this a lot, why can’t we secure a border when we’re building a nation in Ukraine?”