President Joe Biden will meet with the four main congressional leaders this Tuesday (27), as the White House increases pressure on lawmakers to pass on additional funding to Ukraine and ahead of a partial government shutdown deadline. this week.
The meeting – which will include Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – comes at a crucial time after the Johnson's resistance to aid from Ukraine.
Biden, who visited Ukraine last year, has repeatedly framed the need to support the country against Russia as a matter of national security abroad and at home. Faced with congressional inaction on a package that includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, the president has instructed his team to make the consequences “abundantly clear,” a U.S. official told Reuters. CNN .
At the heart of this message are the risks of losing territory to Russia and the dire situation Ukraine faces without more funding. Military analysis, intelligence and information from the Ukrainians have led to concerns within the Biden administration about Russia's aggression and what it means on the battlefield.
“The outlook is much darker,” the US official said.
On Sunday, national security adviser Jake Sullivan called out Johnson by name in his call for the GOP-controlled House to pass aid to Ukraine.
“There is a strong bipartisan majority in the House ready to pass this bill if it makes it to the floor, and that decision rests on the shoulders of one person, and history is watching whether Johnson will put this bill up for a vote,” Sullivan said on a program CNN .
In private conversations, Biden has sought to reassure allies that he is doing everything he can to support Ukraine, including on Saturday during a call with G7 leaders.
Johnson has signaled he will not put the Senate's $95 billion aid package – which includes $60 billion in aid to Ukraine – to a vote in its current form, as he faces pressure from his right flank.
In a statement earlier this month, the Louisiana Republican said a standalone foreign aid bill without addressing U.S. border security was unacceptable. And Johnson privately told his colleagues before Congress went into a nearly two-week recess that he was “in no rush” to resolve the issue.
“The mandate of the supplemental national security legislation was to secure the United States’ own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world. It’s what the American people demand and deserve,” Johnson said at the time. Congressional Republicans rejected a bipartisan border security bill negotiated in the Senate amid pressure from former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination.
While more aid to Ukraine has majority support in the House, including from a solid core of Republicans, Johnson has to manage a wing that includes members on the right who firmly oppose additional aid.
And despite efforts to release a spending deal on Sunday, a deal has yet to materialize amid high-level disputes over political issues, according to GOP sources. Funding for four government agencies ends Friday at midnight.
Johnson told his members in a recent video conference that he hoped to have a deal they could put to a vote this week.
Source: CNN Brasil
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