Rand Paul Will Not Support Spending Bill Including Ukraine
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) declared on Wednesday that he will not support a short-term government spending package that includes further aid for Ukraine’s war with Russia. That announcement came just 10 days before the federal government is set to shut down without a spending deal.
The Sept. 30 deadline means Washington leaders are scrambling to work out a continuing resolution.
The question is whether lawmakers will include the $24 billion in aid for Ukraine requested by President Joe Biden. For one Republican senator, that inclusion would kill his support for any deal.
Paul penned an op-ed online and talked about the standoff on the Senate floor. He emphasized that the federal government should “not be held hostage for Ukraine funding.”
The Kentucky senator wrote that he served notice to the White House and congressional leadership that he will not support a deal which includes more billions for Kyiv. The Biden administration is currently pushing for another huge spending package to fund Ukraine’s war effort.
However, there is increasing concern from conservative lawmakers that Biden is doing nothing more than handing a blank check to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Corruption charges abound, and the much promoted summer counteroffensive against Russian forces produced mixed results at best.
And the sheer volume of taxpayer dollars pouring into Ukraine is staggering.
Paul noted that $113 billion has already been sent to Kyiv with no end in sight to what many see as a proxy war with Russia. That tally amounts to “6.8 billion per month — or $223 million per day” leaving Washington for Eastern Europe, according to the senator.
He called the U.S. commitment “yet another endless quagmire funded by the American taxpayer.”
A revealing CNN poll conducted last month showed most Americans are now against Congress sending even more funds to Kyiv. Paul explained that this is why leadership in both parties is attempting to hold the government hostage by attaching aid for Ukraine.
Combining the two issues presents Congress with an impossible situation, according to Paul. “Either we fund an endless war in Ukraine or the uniparty will shut down the federal government and make the American people suffer.”
The senator blasted well-chronicled corruption in Ukraine. Just this week six deputy defense ministers were fired over misdeeds, and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was sacked two weeks ago over the mishandling of military contracts.
