The Biden administration has repeated its warning that its ability to continue aiding Ukraine is decreasing as Congress waits to act on President Joe Biden's supplemental request.
Biden unveiled the supplemental request, which asks for more than $100 billion in total and includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, roughly half of which is for the Pentagon to replenish its stockpiles, on Oct. 20, but the House of Representatives has yet to move forward on it.
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"The reason you submit a supplemental is because you have an urgent request, and that's why we want Congress to act on the supplemental request for Ukraine. The runway is getting shorter and shorter for our ability to support Ukraine in the manner in which we have been, and that funding is drying up," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Wednesday. "We are having to make tough decisions right now about the security assistance packages that we are providing to Ukraine because we are coming near the end of the rope."
Administration officials have warned that not passing the supplemental could be the final nail in the coffin for Ukraine, which has relied heavily on U.S. and Western military support throughout its war against Russia's invasion.
"As I said, with each security package, you might have noticed that many of these security assistance packages that have been submitted in the last couple of weeks or so are smaller than what they had been prior," he added, "because we're trying to judiciously manage the funds that we have left. There is no other recourse. We must have supplemental funding for Ukraine to allow them to continue to fight back against Russian aggression."
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House Republicans have been divided on whether to continue aiding Ukraine, though the party widely supports aiding Israel in its war with Hamas after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. Senate Republicans also support aiding Israel, but Senate GOP leaders largely also support helping Ukraine.
The Pentagon’s previous most recent military package to Ukraine was announced on Oct. 26 and was valued at $150 million, and before that was a package announced on Oct. 11 valued at up to $200 million.