White House Asks Congress For $100B To Support Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific

The White House on Friday simmutted more than $100 billion emergency request to Congress that seeks additional funding to support Israel, Ukraine in their pushbacks against Hamas and Russia, and to address other key national security challenges, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

The largest portion of the request – roughly $61 billion – covers Ukraine. The Biden administration is also seeking $14 billion to boost Israel’s defense, $10 billion in humanitarian aid and $2 billion for Indo-Pacific security assistance, as well as nearly $14 billion for personnel and operations at the U.S.-Mexico border.

"The United States’ support to Israel comes at the same time that Vladimir Putin’s illegal war against the people of Ukraine passes its 600th day. The actions of the Biden-Harris Administration have enabled the people of Ukraine to defend their nation against a brutal and unprovoked invasion and recapture territory seized by Russian forces, liberating Ukrainian civilians from Russian occupation," the White House said in a fact sheet.

"The Administration’s supplemental request will provide the critical training, equipment, and weapons necessary to help Ukraine defend and recapture its sovereign territory and protect the Ukrainian people against Russian aggression," reads the statement.

In a letter to the Congressional leadership, White House Budget Chief Shalanda Young laid out how the administration’s request would fund national security priorities. “The world is watching and the American people rightly expect their leaders to come together and deliver on these priorities, and I urge Congress to address them as part of a comprehensive, bipartisan agreement in the weeks ahead,” Young told reporters on a call Friday morning.

According to the White House fact sheet, the $61.4 billion request for Ukraine includes $30 billion for equipment already sent from Department of Defense stocks and to backfill those stocks. The administration is also requesting $14.4 billion for the Pentagon to provide Ukraine “continued military, intelligence and other defense support.”

The request includes $149 million for the National Nuclear Security Administration. Among the threats that Ukraine is defending against is Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which has led to concerns of a potential nuclear crisis.

The request also includes $16.3 billion for economic, security and operational assistance through the State Department and USAID, as well as $481 million for Ukrainian refugees living or arriving in the U.S.

Alex Raufoglu