The White House has issued a grave warning to Congress that if it fails to pass legislation by the end of the year to continue funding Ukraine’s defence, then Russia will be more likely to win the nearly two-year-old war.
In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda said that the Defense and State departments are at the stage where they have almost exhausted all available US funds for Kyiv — approximately $111bn — leaving recent assistance packages smaller and smaller.
“I want to be clear: without congressional action, by the end of the year we will run out of resources to procure more weapons and equipment for Ukraine and to provide equipment from US military stocks,” she said.
“There is no magical pot of funding available to meet this moment. We are out of money – and nearly out of time”.
Ms Young said the failure to appropriate more funding for much-needed defence assistance to Kyiv would “kneecap” Ukraine’s defence forces, “not only putting at risk the gains Ukraine has made, but increasing the likelihood of Russian military victories”.
She added that US support remains “critical” and “cannot be replicated by others” – even as American allies across the globe have also contributed to Ukraine’s self-defence efforts.
The White House budget director’s warning comes as Mr Johnson has refused to make clear whether he would allow the House to vote on a supplemental funding bill that would include aid to both Ukraine and Israel, as President Joe Biden has requested.
While Republicans in the House have been amenable to allocating more funds to bolster Israel’s defence during the country’s month-old war against Hamas, a vocal faction in the GOP is opposing continued aid to Ukraine – largely because denying Kyiv assistance would be seen as denying Mr Biden a victory.
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