Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) slammed Democrats for blocking a two-week funding bill to avoid a government shutdown because it didn’t allocate any funding to Ukraine.
The clock is ticking down for lawmakers in the House and the Senate to agree on an appropriations bill before the government shuts down at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. As Republicans in the House attempt to convince nearly two dozen hardliners to rally around Speaker Kevin McCarthy and pass a stopgap bill, the Senate is seeking a bipartisan bill of its own to send to the House.
The conservative senator from Ohio said Democrats in the Senate were presented with a “clean” bill Friday night that would fund the government for two weeks, but they shot it down because funding for Ukraine was not included.
“Last night Democrats blocked a clean, two week government funding bill because it had no money for Ukraine. The Dems are about to shut down the government over Ukraine,” Vance posted on X Saturday morning. I actually can’t believe it, but here we are.”
The Senate will likely vote on a bill Saturday afternoon that would fund the government through November 17 and also allocate more than $6 billion in funding for Ukraine, The Hill reported. If passed, the appropriations bill would go to the House, but McCarthy said he will not bring a measure to the floor that includes funding for Ukraine, according to Fox News.
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House have yet to agree on a bill as 21 conservative hardliners sank McCarthy’s stopgap bill on Friday. A Senate bill passed that includes funding for Ukraine could cause problems for McCarthy if he brings it to the floor for a vote as he faces the threat of a “motion to vacate,” which would result in a vote to remove him as speaker.
Vance joined Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in opposing any spending package that includes additional funding to Ukraine. Last week, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he would not allow an expedited funding bill that includes financial support for Ukraine to make it quickly through the Senate. Meanwhile, a group of other Republicans, led by Vance and Texas Rep. Chip Roy, sent a letter to Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, saying that they, too, would oppose further aid to Ukraine.
“The American people deserve to know what their money has gone to. How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan? What does the administration define as victory in Ukraine?” the letter asked. “It would be an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility to grant this request without knowing the answers to these questions.”
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Even if lawmakers on Capitol Hill can’t reach an agreement and the government shuts down, the Pentagon ensured that its Ukraine operations such as training and weapons shipments to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces continue. Congress approved $113 billion in aid to Ukraine in 2022 as the U.S. continues to prop up the European country in its defense against Russia.