GOP Slams Biden Request of $11.7Bln in Ukraine Aid From Congress as ‘Mid-term Election Gimmick’

The White House announced on 2 September that US President Joe Biden would request $11.7Bln in emergency funding from Congress to provide lethal aid and budget support to Ukraine. In total, the United States has committed more than $13.5Bln in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden administration in January 2021.

Republicans have denounced US President Joe Biden's request for Congress to approve $11.7Bln in additional emergency funding to Ukraine this month as a “superficial gimmick” ahead of the November mid-term elections, Fox News reported.

According to the GOP lawmakers, the Democratic POTUS has been pushing the aid package knowing full well that a portion of Republicans will vote against it. Despite being motivated by a desire for full accountability over how the money will be spent, such GOP opposition might be used by the Democrats to “unfairly smear” Republicans as “isolationists” who are “soft-on-Putin” during the mid-term election campaign trail.

"This newest call from President Biden is simply a superficial mid-term election gimmick that will only damage our country in both the short and long term," said Republican representative for Arizona, Andy Biggs.

Biggs went on Twitter to unleash a barrage of criticism at the administration’s devastating policies.

Joe Biden continues to openly dehumanize and antagonize his political opponents, but it is a ploy.

It is a political trap to draw us into discussing the kooky statements he and his incompetent press team put out daily, instead of his regime’s devastating policies. https://t.co/wCUsr9ZtkW

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) September 7, 2022

He also pointed out that Biden seemed intent on providing “unlimited funding - with no oversight - to a historically corrupt country” such as Ukraine. According to Biggs, Biden has still not indicated what the US’ “strategic plans in Ukraine are”.

Biden ostensibly believes that we should provide unlimited funding—with no oversight—to a historically corrupt country.

Biden has still not indicated what the strategic plans in Ukraine are.

That’s because there is no strategic plan. https://t.co/cdCpGU2814

— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) September 7, 2022

Furthermore, GOP lawmakers underscore that the timing of the new funding request should be viewed in the context of Biden’s recent attempts to paint MAGA Republicans as a "threat to democracy."

"In the last five weeks, the federal government raided the former president's home … [forgiven] student loans, at the same time that the president is out speaking about half the country being ‘semi-fascists'. The timing seems very political, the issues [around this aid bill] seem very political," said House Freedom Caucus chairman, Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania.

Biden is asking Congress to approve a government funding bill worth $47Bln that includes additional money for what it is describing as "four critical needs", including "support for Ukraine, COVID-19, monkeypox and natural disaster recovery" as lawmakers are set to return to Washington after the August recess.

It includes $11.7Bln for additional Ukraine military and economic assistance, which the Democrats hope to push through before funding for the federal government runs out on 30 September or risk a shutdown.

The new funding request comes after Congress signed off on a $40Bln assistance package for Ukraine in May that 57 Republicans in the House and 11 in the Senate opposed. It provided the Kiev regime with more than $20Bln in military aid, almost $9Bln in economic assistance, more than $4Bln in humanitarian aid, and another $4Bln in foreign military financing through the State Department. At the time, many Republicans argued it lacked sufficient accountability measures to preclude corruption.

After the bill was passed in May, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York stated:

"It appears as though more and more MAGA Republicans are on the same soft-on-Putin playbook that we saw used by former President Trump."

Moscow has repeatedly decried the continuous flow of weapons to Ukraine from western allies, pointing out that this will only prolong the conflict. The Kremlin, which launched its special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February, also expressed concerns about the fate of the weapons once they’re in Ukraine, pointing to the dangers of their ending up on the international illegal arms black market.

An ‘Election Issue’

Ahead of the 8 November mid-terms, the Republicans fear that they are being set up for a “verbal smear” attack that may damage their chances of success. The Democrats and Republicans appeared to be neck and neck in FiveThirtyEight's national generic ballot tracker on 6 August, with the Republicans holding a 1.6-point lead on 6 July. However, now - with two months until the mid-terms - a recent uptick in the Democrats' polling indicated they lead the GOP in several average national polling.

Republicans also argue that the Biden administration has failed to explain its strategy for ending the Ukraine crisis.

"You use it all you want as an election issue. I can tell you that voters in Missouri - I'm asked about this constantly - why is it that we're nation-building in Ukraine, but can't secure our own border?" said Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri.

"We have to stand up for accountability to the American taxpayer and how their money is being spent and where," Perry said.