US House Sends Bill to Avoid Government Shutdown, Fund Ukraine Conflict to Biden’s Desk

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation to fund the federal government and provide approximately $12.4 billion in new aid to Ukraine, sending the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed before the shutdown deadline at midnight.

House lawmakers passed a stopgap funding bill to continue fiscal year 2022 funding levels through December 16 in a vote of 230-201, avoiding a looming government shutdown. Congress now plans to pass a full-year spending bill in the coming months, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

The legislation also provides approximately $12.4 billion in new aid for Ukraine, including $4.5 billion in economic assistance, $3 billion in security aid, $2.8 billion for US European Command and $1.5 billion to replenish US weapons stocks.

The bill also authorizes $3.7 billion in US military equipment, including from stocks replenished by the legislation, to be sent to Ukraine using Presidential Drawdown Authority.

Additionally, the bill allocates $540 million to increase critical munitions production, $35 million for nuclear incident preparedness in Ukraine and $2 million for an Inspector General report on Ukraine assistance monitoring.

The State Department’s Office of Inspector General on Thursday announced the launch of a project to specifically audit the humanitarian assistance sent to Ukraine to ensure that taxpayer funds achieve their intended objectives.

The legislation also funds domestic initiatives such as low-income heating assistance, disaster relief and investigative activities associated with Afghan resettlement operations.

The bill will now head to the White House, which has supported the legislation, to be signed into law by Biden. The administration also looks forward to working with Congress to pass a full-year appropriations bill soon, the White House said.