President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will deliver a major speech in an effort to sell Americans on giving more funding to Ukraine, after Congress decided to axe the aid from a temporary spending bill passed Saturday to avoid a government shutdown.
After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Capitol Hill asking the president for additional funding, Congress passed a temporary spending bill, which Biden signed, that failed to include the Ukraine aid the administration had recommended. Since then, Biden has been scrambling to assure world leaders aid would continue coming from the United States, as he arranged a Tuesday phone call with 20 world leaders from Europe, Canada and Japan to discuss their loyalty to Ukraine throughout the latter country’s war with Russia. (RELATED: Pentagon Has Billions Left Over For Ukraine But Not To Replenish Stocks)
“I’m going to be announcing very shortly a major speech I’m going to make on this issue and why it’s critically important for the United States and our allies that we keep our commitment,” Biden said following his speech announcing additional student loan forgiveness.
Ahead of the government shutdown deadline, the Senate passed a package Sept. 26 that included $4.5 billion in Ukraine aid. However, the aid came under fire from House Republicans who accused the funding of prioritizing a foreign country over the nation’s own national security. Ultimately, no Ukraine aid ended up in the temporary spending package that skirted the government shutdown.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on new Administration efforts to cancel student debt and support borrowers at the White House on October 04, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to expand further on the Ukraine speech Biden teased just ahead of the Wednesday press briefing.
“We will have more to share on the president’s speech, as he said a major speech on Ukraine,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “Don’t want to go beyond what he said but as soon as we have locked that in certainly, we will share that with all of you, the timing and the date.”
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz’s motion to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position followed the near-government shutdown. Gaetz said he would bring forth the motion after Congress had passed the bill that GOP conservatives opposed but both House Democrats and moderate Republicans backed.
“I’m going to make the argument that it’s overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that Ukraine succeed,” Biden said Wednesday. “And it’s overwhelmingly in our interest — I’ve spent two and a half years putting together coalitions that no one thought could be put together. And they’ve strengthened us across the board, not just as it relates to Ukraine, whether it’s Japan and South Korea or whether it’s what’s happening in Europe itself. “