President Zelenskyy met with members of both chambers of Congress today including the leadership. There is no video as he did not make an address.
While he was meeting with him six GOP senators and twenty-three members of the House GOP caucus sent a letter to President Biden indicating they would not support the requested $24 billion supplemental until or unless their conditions are met. Josh Kovensky at Talking Points Memo has the details:
Six Republican senators and 23 GOP House members sent a letter to the White House Thursday saying that, for now, they oppose a request for $24 billion in additional funding from Congress to support Kyiv.
In the letter, Republican lawmakers outline a series of questions they have about the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, including progress in the country’s counteroffensive, how the administration defines victory, and what direct assistance the U.S. military has provided.
“For these reasons—and certainly until we receive answers to the questions above and others forthcoming—we oppose the additional expenditure for war in Ukraine included in your request,” the letter reads.
Zelensky is on Capitol Hill today in an effort to maintain support for U.S. aid to his country. But the letter comes as a flank of far-right Republicans, concentrated in the House, try to tank Ukraine aid.
That group is largely missing from the letter’s list of signatories, though members of the group, including Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-PA), have called for the U.S. to reduce its support. The same group of far-right Republicans have been publicly pressuring House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA ), pushing a short term spending bill that does not include additional aid for Ukraine.
You may be wondering why President Zelenskyy didn’t address a joint session of Congress while he was in DC; Kovensky has the answer for that too:
McCarthy told reporters on Thursday that he had declined a request to have Zelensky address another joint session of Congress during his visit, and in a bizarre attempt to bring a rhetorical point into reality, he suggested that Biden should support GOP border funding requests before House Republicans agree to pass more Ukraine aid.
Punchbowl has additional details:
And when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell asked the Biden administration for a classified briefing on Ukraine prior to Zelensky’s visit, one was quickly added to the calendar. Top military and intelligence officials met with senators for over an hour on Wednesday.
However, according to multiple sources, when the Biden administration offered the same briefing to the House, Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s office turned it down. It may happen at a future date, GOP aides said.
Zelensky also asked to deliver another joint address to Congress, as he did last December. House Republicans denied that request, we’re told.
Emboldened Opposition: But Senate GOP Ukraine skeptics emerged from the briefing even more determined to block future funding for the war effort.
“If there is a path toward something that can be called a victory here, I didn’t hear it,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said afterward. “I’m frankly tired of them actively misleading us about Ukraine.”
Hawley, among the GOP’s most vocal opponents of Ukraine aid, said the Biden administration briefers told senators that funding requests will continue even beyond the current $24 billion ask from the White House.
Two things are going to happen in the next ten days. The first is the government is going to shut down. The second is that US military support to Ukraine is going to stop. This is going to happen because Speaker McCarthy is a small minded, petty vindictive man, as well as being incompetent, weak, and craven. Exhibit A:
Even though Kevin McCarthy avoided a public entrance to the meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, he took photos with Zelensky in the room, per source: pic.twitter.com/Tl8LvWWQJ0
— Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) September 21, 2023
Circling back, this is going to happen because the majority of the House GOP caucus will quietly do whatever the House Freedom caucus wants them to while the fifteen to twenty “moderates” will publicly tut tut the House Freedom caucus and then do exactly what the House Freedom Caucus wants them to do. It is going to happen because at least a third of the Senate GOP caucus is all in on what the House Freedom caucus is doing and the rest will do nothing to stop them. Though Senator McConnell will give a more in sadness than in anger statement that he doesn’t think government shutdowns help Republicans.
We have video with subtitled in English audio from President Zelenskyy’s meeting with President Biden. Video below, English write up from the President of Ukraine’s website after the jump:
War for Ukraine Day 575: President Zelenskyy Met With CongressPost + Comments (46)
