U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) addressed the Ukrainian plight for aid on Friday as lawmakers get increasingly closer to the end-of-the-month deadline to pass a government spending bill to keep the U.S. government from a shutdown.
This follows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to make his renewed case for $24 billion of American aid to Ukraine.
No nation has given Ukraine more money since the Russian invasion in February 2022 than the United States. With another round of funds currently stalled in Congress, the total amount of aid to Ukraine has surpassed $112 billion.
U.S. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve $24 billion in new aid to Ukraine; however, a group of 29 Republican senators and representatives led by Vance said they will oppose Biden’s request in the spending bill.
However, U.S. government funding expires on October 1st, which marks the start of the new fiscal year. If Congress fails to pass legislation to renew funding by that deadline, then the federal government will shut down.
According to Vance, in a “Humans Event Daily” interview, Zelensky came into the United States to threaten that if Congress does not include funding for Ukraine in its spending bill, he will shut down the U.S. government.
“If you sort of set this against the backdrop of the government shutdown fight, this guy is basically coming and saying if you don’t give me my $25 billion, I’m going to shut down your government. That’s exactly what he’s doing because Chuck Schumer will not fund the government unless it includes money for Ukraine. So the Democrats are really setting up a fight here where, do we continue to pay our Border Patrol agents or do we pay the $25 billion to Ukraine? It’s crazy to me that they’ve gotten themselves into this political place, but of course they have,” Vance said.
Vance also said that the U.S. government needs to reign in its endless funding to Ukraine.
“What do we give them next? At what point do you have U.S. Senators recommending that we give them tactical nuclear weapons? I fear that we’re actually not far from that point. Of course, it would be psychotic, but so much of what we’ve done up to this point has been equally psychotic,” Vance said.
The Ohio U.S. Senator alleges that if the United States continues to send supplies and weapons to Ukraine, the U.S. will run out of its ability to defend itself.
“We’re sending all those missiles and munitions to Ukraine and not preserving them for our own use. So we’re running out of bullets, we’re running out of our capacity to defend ourselves. We’re escalating a war in Europe. That’s what the Chinese care about. They don’t care about how tough we talk. They care about how smart we are and how tough we’re willing to engage if it comes to it. This war is weakening us. It may make a lot of Washington neocons feel tough. That doesn’t matter. What matters is how strong we are as a country and this war currently is weakening us,” Vance said.
According to Vance, the fight being set up against the U.S. Senate is whether the U.S. pays its border control agents or Zelensky and his generals.
Vance said he does not want a government shutdown but rather to cut spending and thinks the House can deliver a package that does cut government spending. However, he said if the Democrats in the Senate hold the U.S. government hostage to Ukraine funding, Republicans need to make them pay politically.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, The Arizona Sun Times, and The Tennessee Star. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
