To address the concerns and cobble together the votes to pass the agreement, Senators Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, issued a joint statement insisting that the debt ceiling deal “does nothing to limit the Senate’s ability to appropriate emergency supplemental funds to ensure our military capabilities.”
But any move to add extra military spending could also run into resistance from liberal Democrats, who said the debt measure shortchanged domestic programs.
“We have a bill and a law now that put parameters around all of this,” said Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee and the author of past aid packages for Ukraine. This time around, she suggested, such a bill would be a nonstarter “unless there is a willingness to increase domestic spending at the same time.”
In the past, military assistance for Ukraine has been paired with money for disaster relief at home, a combination many congressional aides say will be a model for the next aid package. But with no guidance yet from the administration, which has signaled it wants to see how Ukraine’s counteroffensive progresses before coming to Congress with hard numbers, it is not clear how much additional aid will be necessary.
Last month, the Pentagon did an across-the-board reassessment of the value of the military assistance it had sent to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles, coming up with an extra $3 billion worth of remaining authority that would be enough to last through September.
At that point, many lawmakers predict a substantial infusion will be needed.
“One of the things we’ve learned is the amount of ammunition, the amount of equipment destroyed, etc. — there will be a demand for that,” said Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
“We’ll have to do a supplemental” spending bill, he added.
Karoun Demirjian
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