Lawmakers on Tuesday announced a deal to provide close to $50 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine in its battle against a Russian invasion, racing to commit another tranche of assistance before the start of a new Congress in January.
The effort to support Ukraine has retained widespread support on Capitol Hill, and the latest package of aid would push the American investment in the war against Russia to more than $100 billion this year. Some officials have expressed some concern that Republicans, eager to force deep spending cuts when they take control of the House in January, will be far more reluctant to continue pouring billions of dollars into the war effort abroad.
It is part of a roughly $1.7 trillion spending package that will keep the American government open through September 2023, which is expected to become law before the end of the week. The package eclipses the $37.7 billion request the White House made earlier this year, with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader, hailing an opportunity to “fulfill our promise to stand with our friends in Ukraine.”
It would provide $9 billion to support training, equipment, supplies and other resources to the Ukrainian military, according to a summary released by House Democrats. It would also provide more than $13 billion in economic assistance to the country and more than $11 billion to replenish American weaponry already sent to Ukraine.
The package would also set aside more than $2 billion to help refugees from the country secure emergency housing, job training and English language classes.
In their own separate accounting of the emergency aid package, Senate Republicans pointedly noted it would also set aside billions of dollars for inspector generals to scrutinize how the money is being spent and require regular reports on what the money is being used for.
