The White House has released a sweeping set of proposals to bolster Israel and Ukraine in the midst of two wars as well as invest more in domestic defence manufacturing, humanitarian assistance and managing the influx of migrants at the Mexico border.
The total cost of the supplemental funding request was pegged at just over $105 billion (€99 billion). President Joe Biden hopes Congress will move urgently on the legislation, and made the case for deepening US support for its allies during a rare Oval Office address on Thursday night.
The Democratic president’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters on Friday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Hamas’s attack on Israel represent a “global inflection point”.
“This budget request is critical to advancing America’s national security and ensuring the safety of the American people,” Mr Sullivan said.
Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he would advance Mr Biden’s proposals as soon as possible, adding: “This legislation is too important to wait for the House to settle their chaos.
“Senate Democrats will move expeditiously on this request, and we hope that our Republican colleagues across the aisle will join us to pass this much-needed funding.”
However, next steps are in doubt while the House of Representatives remains in chaos with the Republican majority unable to choose a new speaker. Representative Jim Jordan, a close ally of Donald Trump, is still pushing to run the chamber, an effort that has led to frayed nerves and bruised relations on Capitol Hill.
Even if Republicans can sort out their leadership drama, Mr Biden will face resistance to his plans. He is hopeful that combining several different issues, from border security to countering China’s influence, will foster a political coalition that can move the legislation forward.
But there is equal potential for the entire package to get bogged down in policy debates, especially when it comes to immigration, a historically contentious topic.
Some Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate are wary of linking funding for Ukraine and Israel.
Representative Roger Williams said the president’s proposal was discussed extensively in a closed-door meeting of the Texas Republican delegation on Friday.
“You can’t blend the two together,” he said, describing Israel as “our friend forever”.
Mr Williams said Mr Biden’s proposal is “a little disturbing” because “he knows he can’t get it done without Israel”.
Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, suggested it would be hypocritical for Republicans to oppose Mr Biden’s proposal after complaining about lax border management.
“We will not be lectured by those who refuse to act,” she said. “As we’ve said repeatedly, Congress needs to take action to provide sufficient resources for the border.”
Although there was a lull in migrant arrivals to the US after the start of new asylum restrictions in May, illegal crossings topped a daily average of more than 8,000 last month.
The White House wants roughly $14 billion for measures including boosting the number of border agents, installing new inspection machines to detect fentanyl and increasing staffing to process asylum cases.
The biggest line item in the supplemental funding request is $61.4 billion to support Ukraine. Some of that money will go to replenishing Pentagon stockpiles of weapons that have already been provided.
“The world is closely watching what Congress does next,” Mr Sullivan said.
Israel would receive $14.3 billion in assistance under the proposal. The majority would help with air and missile defence systems.
