Biden makes his $105 BILLION ask official as Congress remains in chaos: White House wants money for Ukraine, Israel and is willing to put nearly $14 billion toward border security to appease Republicans

By William On Oct 20, 2023

President Joe Biden on Friday officially asked Congress for $105.85 billion in new funding to support the war efforts in Israel and Ukraine, provide humanitarian assistance, strengthen border security and give Indo-Pacific countries financing options outside of China .

The bulk of the change will go to Ukraine – $61.4 billion – while Israel will receive $14.3 billion if the president’s plan is approved.

That’s slightly more than the $13.6 billion allocated for border security — something Republicans have demanded.

A total of $10 billion will go to humanitarian aid – most of which will go to people in Gaza, Israel and Ukraine, and a small portion to refugees in the United States.

In a letter to Chairman Pro Tempore Patrick Henry, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young said she hoped the White House and Congress could reach a “comprehensive, bipartisan agreement” to “invest in critical national security priorities.”

The White House is already facing Republican resistance to giving more money to Ukraine, with a group of Republican senators saying Thursday they wanted to decouple aid to Israel and Ukraine.

During Biden’s Oval Office speech Thursday evening, he linked the two conflicts, arguing “we cannot and will not let terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win.”

Biden said that while Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Hamas terror group, responsible for the October 7 bloody attack on Israel, “represent different threats,” they share a common goal.

“They both want to completely destroy a neighboring democracy,” he said.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reiterated that point with reporters Friday.

“As President Biden said, these conflicts can seem far away. But the outcome of this fight for democracy against terrorism and tyranny is vital to the safety and security of the American people,” he said.

While Republicans have been reluctant to send more aid to Ukraine, they have pressed the administration for ignoring the border crisis.

Speaking to reporters Friday, Young fired back at that rhetoric.

“Let me be clear: Some in Congress have said a lot about doing something about border security while refusing to act on the $4 billion request we sent to Congress in August,” she said. “We will not be lectured by those who refuse to take action.”

“As we have said repeatedly, Congress must take action to provide adequate resources for the border,” she added.

Cutting border funding will direct $6.4 billion to border operations, $3.1 billion to additional staffing — divided between Border Patrol agents and teams of immigration judges — and $1.2 billion to combat fentanyl trafficking.

Biden’s funding request comes at a time when half of Congress is in chaos.

The House of Representatives has been speakerless since Oct. 3, after Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz filed a motion to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the top position.

Eight Republicans and the entire Democratic caucus voted to impeach McCarthy, with MAGA-affiliated Rep. Jim Jordan and McCarthy’s second-in-command, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, seen as the most viable candidates to take the gavel to grab.

But efforts to get Scalise and then Jordan as chairman failed.

Scalise, after winning the Republican Party’s first internal caucus race, lost a vote in the House of Representatives and chose to withdraw.

Despite losing votes in the House of Representatives on Tuesday and Wednesday, Jordan told reporters Thursday afternoon that he planned to continue marching.

An attempt to further strengthen acting Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry has currently failed and a new vote for Jordan is expected before lunchtime on Friday.

“This is a matter for the House to work out,” Young said when asked about the extent to which disorder in the House would cause problems.

“It is the president’s job, our job, to communicate to Congress what the needs are and what will happen if this critical funding is not provided. “So we’re doing our job here by letting Congress know what the critical needs are and we expect them to act quickly,” she said.

On the Senate side of Capitol Hill, Republican Senator Roger Marshall is leading the charge to decouple funding from Ukraine and Israel.

“My colleagues and I are convinced that all aid to Israel should not be used as leverage to send tens of billions of dollars more to Ukraine. These are two separate conflicts at different stages and cannot be considered a ‘package agreement,'” Marshall wrote in a letter Thursday.

Marshall was joined by seven additional GOP senators in signing the letter.