President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he’ll be making a major speech on the issue of more U.S. aid for Ukraine, telling reporters he would announce some details “very shortly.”
The address would come as analysts say American funding for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion faces a more uncertain future after the House voted Tuesday to oust GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy from the post of speaker.
“I’m going to make the argument that it’s overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that Ukraine succeed,” Biden said, as he responded to questions from reporters following a speech on student debt.
When asked about whether he’s concerned about delivering more aid to Ukraine, Biden said: “It does worry me, but I know there are a majority of members of the House and Senate and both parties who have said that they support funding Ukraine.”
The president also seemed to suggest there was an alternative way to provide assistance if Congress doesn’t give its OK, though he didn’t give specifics.
“We can support Ukraine in the next tranche that we need, and there is another means by which we may be able to find funding for that, but I’m not going to get into that now,” he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was later asked to elaborate during a briefing, but she told reporters that she would not “go beyond what the president said.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have talked up using an obscure maneuver called a discharge petition to provide more aid for Kyiv if House Republicans don’t bring up the issue for a vote, according to a Semafor report.
From MarketWatch’s archives (May 2023): What is the Democrats’ ‘discharge petition’ option?