U.S. Senate Republican leader backs temporary budget without Ukraine funding
Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republicans in the U.S. Senate (Photo: flickr by Gage Skidmore)
The leader of the Republicans in the United States Senate, Mitch McConnell, advocated for the adoption of a temporary budget that does not include funding for aid to Ukraine, according to The Hill.
The senator notes that he supports House Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal for a temporary budget, which is essential to avert a government shutdown due to the lack of passage of the main budget within the set timeline.
"This is ( Ed.) a responsible measure that will keep the lights on, avoid a harmful lapse in federal spending”," emphasized McConnell.
According to him, such a temporary budget would allow the completion of work on annual spending bills over the next two months.
According to the material, if Congress approves the temporary budget, there won't be another funding bill for Ukraine or Israel until January.
Background
On October 1, the U.S. Congress passed a temporary budget bill, which did not include new funding for Ukraine, as it was decided to consider such an initiative separately.
Afterward, U.S. President Joe Biden proposed allocating $106 billion to Congress, with a majority—$60 billion—intended to aid Ukraine. The package also included aid for Israel.
The president's initiative faced opposition in the U.S. House of Representatives, where the new Speaker, Mike Johnson, wanted to consider aid for Ukraine and Israel separately. He introduced a separate package for Israel, which gained support.
However, in the Senate, where the majority belongs to the Democrats, they did not want even to consider Johnson's initiative. There, they supported consolidating aid to Ukraine and Israel into a single package.
