拜登政府向国会提出了400亿美元的补充资金请求，其中包括对乌克兰战争、边境和移民、灾难应对和消防员工资的援助——这一请求将很难说服众议院的共和党议员。
对于乌克兰和其他国际需求，政府要求大约240亿美元。该总额包括95亿美元“用于乌克兰的设备和国防部库存的补充;36亿美元用于持续的军事、情报和其他国防支持。”奥巴马政府还要求拨款73亿美元，用于向乌克兰和其他受影响的国家和人口提供经济、人道主义和安全援助。
高级政府官员表示，这项补充请求是为2024年第一季度提供资金。如果需要的话，他们对乌克兰未来的援助请求敞开大门。
政府还寻求40亿美元用于边境和移民，120亿美元用于救灾基金和荒地消防员工资。
既然政府已经要求追加资金，现在就看国会的了。在美国对乌克兰的现有援助枯竭之前，议员们采取行动的时间已经不多了。据政府高级官员透露，现有资金可能会在9月底用完。
但是，一个分裂的国会真的能批准这项支出请求吗?
乌克兰拨款将在国会面临比以往任何拨款方案都要大得多的阻力。来自众议院共和党人强硬派的反对能否被克服仍有待观察，迫在眉睫的政府关门意味着国会最早可能在下个月就这个问题发生争执。
在国会山的一些营地，乌克兰资助的受欢迎程度正在下降
乌克兰资助了声望下降在一些共和党人中间持续了几个月。这有很多原因，从担心缺乏对资金的监督到担心为外国服务会耗尽美国的资源。
在上个月的众议院投票中，70名众议院共和党人议员投票支持一项取消对乌克兰所有资助的修正案。这还不足以否定周四的请求，但它标志着众议院共和党人的优先事项发生了变化。
据美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)报道，乌克兰资金也不太受美国人欢迎，55%的美国人反对授权额外资金支持乌克兰投票上周发布。
迫在眉睫的政府关门使乌克兰援助成为焦点
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)请求额外的乌克兰援助之际，国会正在为9月份围绕政府资金的斗争做准备，如果国会不采取行动，这场斗争将于10月1日结束。政府关门的可能性可能会让对乌克兰的额外援助变得更加麻烦。
随着一些议员希望在更广泛的政府拨款讨论中包括对乌克兰的拨款，他们将在一定程度上受到众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡和拜登今年早些时候达成的一项协议的束缚，该协议规定了国防和非国防支出的上限，以换取共和党同意暂停债务上限。
一些参议院共和党人谴责债务限额协议中的国防支出上限，部分原因是担心这会让继续援助乌克兰变得更加困难，因此参议院领导人提出了一个补充援助计划的可能性，就像白宫周四要求的那样，以增加国防支出上限，从而获得批准。
补充资金申请不受上限影响。
作为对白宫周四行动的回应，多数党领袖查克·舒默(Chuck Schumer)已经表示，他将努力通过补充资金请求。
舒默在一份声明中说:“参议院两党强烈支持采取更多措施来帮助我们受自然灾害影响的同胞，打击芬太尼的祸害，并支持我们在乌克兰的合作伙伴。”“我们希望今年秋天与我们的共和党同事一道，避免不必要的政府关闭，并为这一关键的紧急补充请求提供资金。”
尽管遭到一些共和党人的反对，舒默很可能会成功。虽然越来越多的参议院共和党人人反对援助乌克兰，但在上议院仍有相当广泛的支持乌克兰的人，包括共和党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔。
在周三的新闻发布会上，麦康奈尔表示，他“期待”看到政府的请求，并重申了他对乌克兰的支持。
麦康奈尔对记者说:“我们花在乌克兰的大部分钱实际上都花在了美国，补充武器，更现代化的武器，并改善我们自己的军事力量。”
但在众议院通过的可能性较小。强硬的共和党人反对补充资金，因为他们觉得这与他们在债务限额协议中获得的艰难预算削减背道而驰。
麦卡锡在6月份告诉美国广播公司新闻，他支持乌克兰，但对提供补充资金不感兴趣。
“我支持我们在乌克兰的行动，”麦卡锡说。“但就像任何人要求的任何援助一样，如果他们要求我为街上的一些事情提供更多资金，你必须告诉我你需要多少钱，你想要实现什么，这是否能解决问题。”
“我们刚刚达成了一项协议，”麦卡锡说，他指的是债务上限协议。“现在制定补充协议只会破坏协议。那都是为了多花钱。所以，不，我不支持补充。”
议员们可以通过多种方式争取对补充资金进行投票。具体时间还不清楚，但国会最早可能会在下个月处理这一请求。
Biden administration seeks billions more in Ukraine aid, teeing up congressional fight
The Biden administration has unveiled a $40 billion supplemental funding request to Congress, which includes aid for the war in Ukraine, border and migration, disaster response and firefighter pay -- an ask that will be a hard sell to Republican lawmakers in the House.
For Ukraine and other international needs, the administration is asking for roughly $24 billion. That total includes $9.5 billion "for equipment for Ukraine and replenishment of DOD stocks; and $3.6 billion for continued military, intelligence, and other defense support." The administration is also asking for $7.3 billion for economic, humanitarian, and security assistance to Ukraine and other impacted countries and populations.
Senior administration officials said this supplemental request is funding for the first quarter of 2024. They left the door open to future requests for aid to Ukraine if needed.
The administration is also seeking $4 billion for border and migration, $12 billion for the disaster relief fund and wildland firefighter pay.
Now that the administration has asked for supplemental funding, the ball is in Congress' court. Time is running out for lawmakers to act before existing U.S. aid for Ukraine runs dry. Per senior administration officials, existing funds could run out by the end of September.
But can a divided Congress actually approve this spending request?
Ukraine funding is going to face a much steeper resistance in Congress than any previous funding package has. Whether opposition from hard-line House Republicans can be overcome remains to be seen, and a looming government shutdown means Congress could be locking horns over this issue as soon as next month.
Popularity of Ukraine funding is waning in some camps on the Hill
Ukraine funding haswaned in popularityamong some Republicans for months. There's a number of reasons for that, ranging from concern about lack of oversight for the funding to worries about draining US resources in service of foreign countries.
In a House vote last month, 70 House Republicans voted in favor of an amendment that would have stripped all funding for Ukraine. That's not enough to doom Thursday's request yet, but it signals a shifting priority for House Republicans.
Ukraine funding is also less popular with Americans, with 55% of Americans opposing authorizing additional funding to support Ukraine, according to a CNNpollreleased last week.
Looming government shutdown brings Ukraine aid into focus
President Joe Biden's request for additional Ukraine aide comes as Congress is gearing up for a September battle over government funding, which will run out on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn't act. The possibility of a shutdown could make passage of additional Ukraine aid even more cumbersome.
As some lawmakers look to include funding for Ukraine in the discussion about government funding more generally, they'll be somewhat hamstrung by a deal struck by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Biden earlier this year that set caps on defense and non-defense spending in exchange for Republican agreement to suspend the debt limit.
Some Senate Republicans decried the caps on defense spending in the debt limit deal in part due to concern that it would make it more difficult to continue aid to Ukraine, so Senate leaders offered up the possibility of a supplemental aid package, like the one the White House requested Thursday, to augment the defense cap in order to get their sign off.
Supplemental funding requests are not impacted by the cap.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in response to the White House's actions on Thursday, is already signaling that he'll try to pass the supplemental funding request.
"There is strong bipartisan support in the Senate for doing more to help our fellow citizens impacted by natural disasters, fight the scourge of fentanyl, and support our partners in Ukraine," Schumer said in a statement. "We hope to join with our Republican colleagues this fall to avert an unnecessary government shutdown and fund this critical emergency supplemental request."
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer walks to his office at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., July 27, 2023.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP, FILE
Schumer very well may succeed despite the opposition from some Republicans. While there's a growing contingent of Senate Republicans who oppose Ukraine aid, there's still pretty broad support for Ukraine in the upper chamber, including from GOP Leader Mitch McConnell.
At a press event on Wednesday, McConnell said he "looked forward" to viewing the administration's request, and reaffirmed his support for Ukraine.
"Most of the money that we spend related to Ukraine is actually spent in the US, replenishing weapons, more modern weapons, and improving our own military, for what may lie ahead," McConnell told reporters.
But passage is less likely in the House. Hard-line Republicans oppose supplemental funding because they feel it flies in the face of the hard-fought budget cuts they secured in the debt limit deal.
McCarthy told ABC News back in June that he supports Ukraine but is not interested in providing supplemental funding.
"I support our actions in Ukraine," McCarthy said. "But just like any aid that anybody asks [for], if they ask me for more funding for something in a street, you gotta tell me how much money you need, what do you want to achieve, and would this solve the problem."
"We just worked on an agreement," McCarthy said, referring to the debt ceiling deal. "Working [on] a supplemental right now is only blowing up the agreement. That's all about spending more money. So, no, I do not support a supplemental."
There's a number of ways that lawmakers could try to get a vote on the supplemental funds. The timing is not clear, but Congress could be grappling with this request as soon as next month.
As the threat of a shutdown grows nearer and nearer, it's possible Congress would need to consider a stop gap measure to keep the government funded, at least until they can reach broader agreement on government funding bills. If that happens, the Senate could join the supplemental funding to that package, clearing the way for easier passage in the Senate. What's less clear is whether the House would take up such a bill.
