Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

“And when the Committee says to “report your income,” that could mean anything!

The new republican ‘Pastor’ of the House is an odious authoritarian little creep.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

An almost top 10,000 blog!

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

Consistently wrong since 2002

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

The lights are all blinking red.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Not all heroes wear capes.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

You are here: Home / War in Ukraine / This Is a Big Joe Biden Deal

This Is a Big Joe Biden Deal

by | 83 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

BREAKING: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has ADVANCED legislation to SEIZE Russian assets to fund Ukraine.

Everything is impossible. Until it isn’t.

(The Hill)

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee advanced legislation Wednesday to allow the U.S. to seize frozen Russian assets to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

The top Democrat and Republican on the panel were confident that Senate leadership viewed the legislation, called the REPO Act, as a priority for passage amid stalled efforts to deliver on further assistance for Ukraine.

“Leadership’s committed to move this as quickly as it can. It very well could be a caboose on a bill that goes through here quickly,” said Sen. James E. Risch (R-Idaho), the ranking member of the committee and sponsor of the REPO Act.

If signed into law, the legislation would mark the first time the U.S. has seized foreign assets of a country it is not at war with. Lawmakers said the Biden administration is supportive of the bill.

“They want to have this in their toolkit,” said Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the committee.

An administration official told The Hill that “Generally speaking, we are supportive of having domestic legislative authorities that will give us flexibility as we continue to discuss with partners and allies on how best to cease Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and ensure Russia pays for the damage it has caused.”

The official continued, “We are also engaged in active conversations with our allies and partners, including the G7, to ensure we are all coordinated in making Russia pay.”

Cardin succeeded in passing his amendment to the bill in the committee meeting, an effort to address what he said are concerns around challenges in American courts to the U.S. government seizure of another foreign government’s assets and not draw out the process.

“I think it’s naive to think there won’t be legal challenges. … The amendment that I was able to get in will shorten any legal challenge,” Cardin said.

“What this allows, the administration to get those issues resolved early in the process and therefore can move forward with this tool. And it also gives our partners around the world confidence that we’re on a sound legal basis when we move forward.”

The U.S. holds about $5 billion to $6 billion in Russian central bank assets that it froze in February 2022 following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s launch of a full-scale invasion into Ukraine.

The action was taken in coordination with partners in Europe, Canada and Japan, with total frozen Russian central bank assets held overseas said to amount to about $300 billion.

Group of Seven (G7) nations, the priority bloc supporting Ukraine, has yet to come to a consensus on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction. But the U.S. move on cementing language and passing legislation is viewed as a priority step in getting other countries on board.

Baked into the text is for the executive branch to certify to Congress that it is coordinating with G7 partners and others on working together on the seizure of Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

“The body of the bill itself is very clear about the need for multilateral action not just with G7 — it also mentions Australia and a couple other areas where there are Russian assets,” Cardin said.

“So it only works if we can get those who have the largest amounts of Russian assets to work with us. That is made very clearly in the body of the bill.”

Cardin said the priority issue is for the Senate to follow through passing President Biden’s National Security Supplemental, which is to include $60 billion for Ukraine but is held up over negotiations on changes to U.S. immigration policy.

“We gotta get this supplemental done. Ukraine has to have it. It’s a matter of survival,” Cardin said, adding that the REPO bill is a way to impose more pressure on Russia to remove its troops and “accepting responsibility for the damages that they’ve caused.”

I’m not saying this will happen tomorrow, but clearly steps are being taken to make this possible.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

83Comments

  2. 2.

    zhena gogolia

    But in the linked article, it sounds as if these are funds for reconstruction, but not for arming Ukraine now?

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    BMB Empower Network (@BmbEmpower) posted at 0:35 AM on Wed, Jan 24, 2024:
    “Putting Kamala Harris as VP into perspective. See the red box?  Until then, she would have been enslaved. Blue box? Until then, she couldn’t vote. Yellow box? Until then, she had to attend a segregated school. The green one? Until then she couldn’t have her own bank account.”… https://t.co/baqporsfTm
    (https://x.com/BmbEmpower/status/1750044592748032197?t=Qr4P9yokmRo1K1kWFlUapQ&s=03)

  9. 9.

    kindness

    How long will it take before this new announcement is twisted into ‘Joe Biden is going to seize your home and give it to Ukraine!!1!’?

  11. 11.

    geg6

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Disagree.  If Johnson actually brings it to a vote, it will pass.  All the Dems and enough GOPers support Ukraine to get it through.  The biggest problem is Johnson.

  12. 12.

    gene108

    @SpaceUnit:

    What are the chances of this bill passing in the House?

    As with so many bills since 2011, if the Speaker allows a vote it would pass with primarily Democratic support and some Republican support.

    The struggle is whether or not Johnson wants his caucus to vote on anything besides a CR this year, because House Republicans are scared to take a stand on most any issue that’s not about investigating Hunter Biden or scare mongering about the southern border.

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    @SpaceUnit: The House is close to even now. The Speaker has an interesting line to straddle.  PIss off the Dems too much, and they won’t save his ass if there is a motion to vacation VACATE.

  17. 17.

    Yarrow

    I’m glad to see them do this, even if ultimately Johnson doesn’t bring it to a vote and/or it doesn’t pass in the House. It’s not nothing. Maybe it can somehow be leveraged to create more cracks in the Republican party. Like Betty C was seeing hints of in Florida. But what Ukraine needs is money and weapons now. This isn’t that. I don’t know how to make that happen.

  21. 21.

    Ruckus

    @SpaceUnit:

    I imagine that Johnson will be deaf from all of ShitForBrains screaming long before he’ll make a decision about this. First because all of SFB’s screaming is about HIM, and Johnson has at least a modicum of concept of governing, at least from the perspective of the far side (not the cartoon) of his side of the aisle.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    Joe isn’t messing around.

  27. 27.

    Alison Rose

    @rikyrah: This reminded me of this TikTok about white people who “don’t see color” or whatever

    (If you’re curious about the one male non-white face in the first image of VPs, Hoover’s VP Charles Curtis was Native American on his mother’s side.)

  28. 28.

    Spanky

    Can someone tell me why they ran a picture of Statler and Waldorf in the Mueller She wrote tweet?

  29. 29.

    JWR

    @WaterGirl:

    a motion to vacation

    Tee hee! Because I just had to see that again. ;)

    @zhena gogolia:

    it sounds as if these are funds for reconstruction, but not for arming Ukraine now?

    I see that WaterGirl answered this as best she could, but I’d be much happier if the bill was parceled out with this amount for reconstruction and that amount for weapons. (Especially the Weapons!)

  31. 31.

    LadySuzy

    @geg6: Nope. The biggest problem is Trump who threatens Johnson about his Speakership, and threatens every House republican.

  32. 32.

    dirge

    @WaterGirl: message to Putin

    Also a message to his proxies, racketeers, and money launderers around the world.  Could provoke conflict between oligarchs who’ve been using frozen funds as loan collateral, dry up cash flows, and create cascading disruptions in an already strained influence network. Who won’t get the money might be as important as who will.

  33. 33.

    Hoppie

    @gene108: The majority pro-Ukrainian-aid house members may be plotting a discharge petition on this.  I have read that some of the Goopers are fairly  passionate about it.  Seems like a lot of wasted Senate effort if something like that isn’t being thought about.

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    Remember too quite a lot, indeed if not the bulk of any money for armaments and ordnance comes right back to be spent in the U.S.

  35. 35.

    Chris T.

    @geg6:

    The biggest problem is Johnson

    That’s generally true of most males. Oh, wait, this isn’t BJ-after-dark yet…

  36. 36.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @LadySuzy:

    The biggest problem is Trump

    Hardly anybody in the House gives a fuck what Trump wants, and then not much.  Remember the ‘who will replace McCarthy’ fiasco?  Trump’s pronouncements fell flat.  Trump is not the problem.  That the Republican House consists almost entirely of assholes is the problem.  It’s hard to get anything done when your most sane members merely shrug at any suggestion that legislation should ever pass, and 80% of your caucus has Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

    EDIT – And Johnson himself is not a member of that ‘most sane’ group.

  37. 37.

    catclub

    @kindness: before this new announcement is twisted into ‘Joe Biden is going to seize your home and give it to Ukraine!!1!’?

     

    I am sure that the states that did not accept federal money for feeding kids was already at that stage.

  39. 39.

    JWR

    Just now, from NBC:

    The Ohio Senate voted Wednesday to override Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of a bill that bans transition-related medical care for transgender minors and restricts trans athletes’ participation on school sports teams.

    After the Senate’s 23-9 vote, the bill will become law in 90 days. The Ohio House already voted 65-28, along party lines, to override DeWine’s veto earlier this month.

    Ohio is now the 22nd state with a law that restricts minors’ access to puberty blockers and hormone therapy and the 24th with a law that bars trans girls and women from playing on women’s school sports teams.

    Not to worry, Dewine has his own mean little bill, which mainly outlaws surgery for minors. Swear to God, these Repubs are such pecker sniffers

    ETA a quote from the group TransOhio:

    “Their government is forcing them to uproot their lives,” Adkison said. “They’re selling their homes, they’re changing jobs and careers and closing out all of their savings. They’re closing their businesses, they’re leaving their medical practices. The intense amount of personal and community trauma that is being inflicted by the government right now and putting these families through who just love their f—ing kids is so cruel.”

  41. 41.

    Jackie

    @WaterGirl: That durned Sleepy Joe is positively Tenacious!

    Tell him no, he quietly  looks for another way to get what is needed.

    Those “young” whippersnappers in Congress have a thing or two to learn, and Uncle Joe is here to teach em!

  42. 42.

    JWR

    A thread or two ago there was talk of an article at NewsMax claiming that T***p didn’t mix up Haley and Pelosi accidentally, but on purpose. Welp, this morning I turned on my trusty little transistor and found it set to KPFK, and they had on someone from some NH radio station, and that’s what this person said, that he did it purposely, for reasons, I guess. Something strategic, or something. BTW, it was DemocracyNow!. (The horseshoe strikes again!)

  46. 46.

    trollhattan

    @JWR: Just like I intended to plow into that roadside boulder with my car. Yup, just doing some zen rock gardening on a macro scale.

  48. 48.

    catclub

    @JWR: This is right in line with Trump saying something and when it gets taken seriously he says he was just kidding. Isn’t that all part of gaslighting?

     

    But he never takes something back/says he was kidding/ until it gets pushback.

  49. 49.

    Baud

    @VFX Lurker:

    60,000 rapes resulting in forced births

     

    It’s horrific, but that’s not what the headline says. Nothing indicates how many could get out of state abortions.

    ETA: Simply pointing out in order to avoid disseminating information that could be easily debunked.

    ETA 2 (from the article)

    The study says few, if any, of these rape victims were able to get an abortion legally. If they did seek one, they had to travel out of state or pursue a self-managed abortion, which may include obtaining an abortion pill.

  51. 51.

    Chris

    @JWR:

    Swear to God, these Repubs are such pecker sniffers

    When I was trying out ROTC, I remember the “career day” when they brought in people from various component parts of the service to show you what different careers you could have.  And I’ll always remember the guy from OSI (the Air Force version of NCIS) proudly stating that he’d personally run three “proponents of an alternate lifestyle” out of the service.

    Think about all the crimes military investigators are theoretically supposed to be looking into.  Everything from war crimes to black marketing to treason to just ordinary crimes like theft, rape, or murder, any one of them more glamorous and attention-grabbing than being the gayness police.  And think about the context: this is a room full of young adults in the late 2000s, meaning that opinion on these “proponents of an alternate lifestyle” is going to be something other than unanimous approval.  Still, this is what he chooses to talk about.  This is his elevator speech.  This is what he considers putting his best foot forward: “I am a licensed pervert whose job is to sniff everybody’s crotch until I find one that doesn’t smell quite right to me.”

    Other than what it says about conservatives, I remember that being my first inkling that there’s something deeply fucking wrong with cops.

  52. 52.

    trollhattan

    Beginning to believe Boeing might could have some management and QA/QC issues.

    The head of Boeing is facing questions from lawmakers in Washington as pressure mounts to explain the mistakes that led to a panel breaking off one of its planes this month.

    Boss Dave Calhoun told reporters ahead of the meetings that he was prepared to share “everything I can”. But he declined to comment on a report that said the part had been improperly installed at one of the firm’s plants.

    The anonymous account was posted online and reported by the Seattle Times.

    The post, from someone claiming to work at Boeing, described the production of Boeing’s 737 planes as “a rambling, shambling, disaster waiting to happen”. It said the firm’s records showed that the four bolts meant to hold the door plug in place were not installed when Boeing delivered the 737 Max 9 plane to customer Alaska Airlines.

    On 5 Jan, just eight weeks later, the panel blew off shortly after take-off, terrifying passengers, and forcing an emergency return to the Portland, Oregon airport.

    No serious injuries were reported but lawsuits have been filed by customers since the incident, accusing the company of negligence. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded 171 other 737 Max 9 planes with similar designs for inspection, forcing the cancellation of thousands of flights.

    It also recently recommended airlines inspect Boeing’s older 737-900ER models, which use the same door design as Max 9s, though it did not order the planes out of service.

    The whistleblower account said Boeing should have halted 737 manufacturing due to an “alarming” number of issues surfacing on the planes during inspections.
    In the case of this particular plane, it said Boeing and Spirit staff at a Boeing factory in Washington worked to identify and repair issues ahead of the delivery. The whistleblower says that in the course of that work, the bolts were removed.

    But according to the post, a final inspection of the door never occurred, which the account blames on a breakdown in communication, in part due to Boeing’s use of two different computer systems to report and sign-off on issues. Boeing staff were the ones who removed the bolts, according to The Seattle Times, which said the information was from a different anonymous source.

    Watched the Netflix documentary Downfall: The Case against Boeing, which was about MCAS and nothing to do with the current fuckup, except, it goes very deeply into the geologic shift in corporate culture after the merger and pivoting entirely to share value as the new business model. If you haven’t seen it, do. (They effectively eliminated the entire quality control regime.)

    The places are assembled in Renton, but from structures built in Wichita.

  53. 53.

    JWR

    About the REPO Bill. From what Senator Whitehouse says here, these funds are not for weapons:

    “Hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian sovereign assets have been frozen – including billions here in the U.S. – since the start of Russia’s murderous invasion of its peaceful neighbor.  So when we help Ukraine rebuild after it beats back the Russian invasion, seizing and repurposing the Putin regime’s frozen funds is the right place to start,” said Whitehouse.

  55. 55.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @dirge: Interesting. Would some of these frozen assets be co-ops in Trump-owned properties? Asking for a friend.

  57. 57.

    trollhattan

    @Chris: It should. The whole Max saga began because Airbus was stealing Boeing’s lunch money with the A320 Neo and Boeing decided fast-and-cheap was the best countermove, birthing the Max instead of a new airframe or revised 757 (what pilots wanted).

    From a stock market perspective, they were right–they sold a gazillion. From any other perspective, dire move, plus dead people.

  58. 58.

    JWR

    @Chris:

    … I remember that being my first inkling that there’s something deeply fucking wrong with cops.

    Hear f***in’ hear! Not all of them, certainly, but the one’s who worry me more are those who would make better mall cops. IMHO, I think if part of their training required a few years of criminal law at a JC or wherever would work wonders. But the aggressiveness on display makes it look as if they majored in Killology.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    It seems to me that if Dems can get this pushed through, then we have a roadmap for how to get something through in order to use funds for defense or weapons.

  64. 64.

    dirge

    @Boris Rasputin (the evil twin): co-ops in Trump-owned properties

    Condos.  Co-ops are superficially similar, but legally quite distinct.

    But I do strongly suspect that a lot of those condos are pledged to someone other than their legal owners, and are used as much as markers for offshore assets as they are assets in their own right.  Would not be surprised if the realization that Russian funds were never getting unfrozen resulted in a flurry of ownership changes in Trump Tower.  And maybe a couple window-related accidents.

  65. 65.

    wjca

    @Hoppie: The majority pro-Ukrainian-aid house members may be plotting a discharge petition on this.  I have read that some of the Goopers are fairly  passionate about it.  Seems like a lot of wasted Senate effort if something like that isn’t being thought about.

    The Democratic leadership in Congress has shown some skill in counting votes.  So while the Senate could be engaged in pure performance art, it seems more likely that they’ve worked out what must be included, what can be included, and what cannot be, included in order to get the bill to Biden to sign.

  66. 66.

    wjca

    @HumboldtBlue: Someone wrote about that the other day, the US arms industry is doing very well out of supplying Ukraine.

    And likely is doing some serious lobbying (if, perhaps behind the scenes) to get their next set of orders funded.

  67. 67.

    Bill Arnold

    @JWR:

    they had on someone from some NH radio station, and that’s what this person said, that he did it purposely, for reasons, I guess. Something strategic, or something. BTW, it was DemocracyNow!

    Anyone who pundits about Trump’s high cunning should be sentenced to 50 hours of Trump videos, like Alex in Clockwork Orange. IMHO.
    [1] Sorry-not-sorry for verbifying pundit.

  68. 68.

    cain

    @SpaceUnit:

    Given Trumps mental state – that might get interesting as whatever rabbit hole Trump is plummeting down of – who knows what kind of requests.

    But you can bet that ultimately, Trump will ask the House to Biden if he wins. Let’s see what happens there.

  71. 71.

    StringOnAStick

    I know someone who was fabricating drones for Ukraine in the Portland area; he was laid off right before Christmas and would really like to get back to work.

  72. 72.

    Geminid

    @Hoppie: Rep. Ruben Gallego mentioned last January the possibility of passing aid for Ukraine by means of a discharge petition. Gallego, a former Marine officer and a member of the Armed Services Committee, was interviewed for a Military Times article titled, “Ruben Gallego on defense priorities, concerns in new Congress ” January 17 2023.

    Gallego said about Republican opposition to Ukraine aid:

       I think that’s something we need to be realistic about and try to work around, whether it’s by discharge petitions, or whatever other methods there are for us to continue funding Ukraine….

    Discharge petitions are seldom.used, and when they succeed it’s usually by forcing the hand of recalcitrant majority leaders. That may have been last May, when House Democrats put a discharge petition on the floor that would have advanced a bill raising the Debt Ceiling. It was gathering names when Kevin McCarthy folded and made a deal acceptable Democratic leaders.

    Like the Debt ceiling standoff, the problem of Ukraine funding was forseeable, and I expect Democrats have prepared a suitable bill with a discharge petition ready. I guess we’ll find out soon enough, because it sounds like the Senate could be voting soon on the $100+ Supplemental Appropriation that includes aid to Ukraine, maybe by next week.

  74. 74.

    waspuppet

    @gene108: Gonna be interesting to watch Trump yell at the Pro-Putin Caucus to vote against the bill, and watch the Pro-Putin Caucus vote against the bill, all while “explaining” that they’re not voting against the bill because Trump told them to and because Putin wants it. And of course the NYT/CNN axis will buy it.

  76. 76.

    waspuppet

    @catclub: Sort of, but it’s more easily explained by starting with the conclusion that “Dear Leader is always right” and working backwards to say whatever you have to from there.

    That dynamic is going to get a real workout this year, because he really has completely lost it. The makeup is a tell too — he was Vivek Ramaswamy-colored after the primary. At a certain point it’s not just a choice; it’s an inability to accurately perceive reality.

  77. 77.

    S Cerevisiae

    If I was the owner of a big arms company I would give Ukraine 🇺🇦 an unlimited credit line. They really should.

  79. 79.

    Andrya

    @Hoppie:   I raised the possibility of a discharge petition for Ukraine a few days ago on Adam Silverman’s nightly Ukraine thread.  Dr. Silverman said that it would never get the tiny number of Republican signatures that it would need.  I’d like to think Dr. Silverman was wrong this one time but I doubt he is.

    @zhena gogolia:   If the funds aren’t for weapons,  it’s useless.  Ukraine can’t throw russia out without weapons.

  81. 81.

    Geminid

    @Andrya: I don’t see why a few Republicans like Max Miller (OH) wouldn’t sign on to a discharge petition. Foreign Relations Chairman McCaul (TX) might not sign because he’s in leadership, but I think he would encourage other Ukraine hawks to sign. So I think this is a real possibility.

  82. 82.

    Nettoyeur

    @zhena gogolia: Money does not have lasting Defense or Reconstruction labels. You get money for one from outside, you can rearrange internal funding. In any case, I have read that the Russian assets in the US amount to some millions not billions. Too bad we can’t get at all the money laundered through Trump properties in NYC and Florida….

Comments are closed.