McCarthy Warns GOP May Cut Back Ukraine Aid If Party Wins House
- Likely next House speaker sees appetite for aid waning
- McCarthy reiterates plan to use debt ceiling to force cuts
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said Republicans are prepared to pull back on US aid to Ukraine next year if they gain control of the House, reflecting a growing sentiment in the party for the country to be less involved overseas.
“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine,” McCarthy said in an interview with Punchbowl News published Tuesday. “They just won’t do it.”
While supporting Ukraine in battling against Russia’s invasion still has bipartisan support in Congress, a faction of Republicans aligned with former President Donald Trump’s “America first” stance has been questioning the US role in providing weapons and other support. Congress passed $40 billion package of aid for Ukraine in May, with 11 Republicans in the Senate and 57 in the House voting against it. Another $12 billion in assistance was included in a stopgap government funding bill passed by Congress in September.
Republicans are likely to win control of the House in the November election, according to independent analysts, and McCarthy is poised to become speaker if that happens. Control of the Senate remains a toss-up, but even if Democrats retain control of that chamber a GOP House majority would be able stifle President Joe Biden’s agenda.
McCarthy in the interview said part of the reason for dialing back aid is that the Biden administration is ignoring domestic issues that the GOP sees as a priority, such as securing the US southern border.
“People begin to weigh that,” the California Republican said. “Ukraine is important, but at the same time it can’t be the only thing they do and it can’t be a blank check.”
Read More: Entitlement, Spending Cap Plans Linked by GOP to Debt-Limit Deal
The Biden administration and congressional Democrats have argued that the aid to Ukraine is in the interest of the US and its
NATO allies and cutting back would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“A Republican-led House could undermine that support and that would be bad for the Ukrainians, it would be bad for our unity with NATO,” Virginia Senator Mark Warner said Tuesday in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power with David Westin.” “If Putin sees that kind of isolationist approach he will press that advantage.”
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Midterm Elections: House's McCarthy Says Ukraine Aid May Be Pared If GOP Wins - Bloomberg