House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy predicted that Congress would not write a “blank check” to Ukraine if Republicans take over the House in November, The Hill reports.
“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine. They just won’t do it,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News.
“It’s not a free blank check. And then there’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically. Not doing the border and people begin to weigh that. Ukraine is important, but at the same time it can’t be the only thing they do and it can’t be a blank check,” McCarthy said.
Bipartisanship nears end:
While Ukrainian aid has gotten bipartisan support in Congress thus far, a growing number of right-wing lawmakers have pushed to limit the aid to the country.
When Congress voted to approve $40 billion in security assistance for Ukraine in May, 11 Republican senators and 57 House Republicans voted against the package.
President Biden “needs to understand that we are the USA not the US-ATM,” tweeted Rep. Lauren Boebert.
Outside groups like the Heritage Foundation also lobbied against the bill.
Split over humanitarian aid:
While Republicans largely support military aid for Ukrainian, some have been skeptical of humanitarian aid.
The Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative group in the House, complained that $12.2 billion in Ukrainian aid that was added to a government funding bill in September was limited to humanitarian aid.
Only 10 House Republicans voted against the bill to avoid a government shutdown.
Next time Republicans may not be so willing, and some have called on Biden to engage with the GOP to justify his requests and have pushed more oversight and transparency measures.
