Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the US foreign policy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Joe Biden has asked Congress for a national security package worth $106bn, including $75.7bn in extra funding for Ukraine and Israel, after calling on lawmakers to preserve US leadership in the world.
Requested assistance for Ukraine totals $61.4bn, including $30bn for additional lethal aid for Ukraine and the replenishment of US weapons stockpiles, and $14.4bn for continued military and intelligence support for Kyiv.
The proposed $14.3bn package for Israel would include $10.6bn for air and missile defence support, funds for US defence companies and their suppliers, and weapons replenishment for the Pentagon.
Passage of the funds, which encompass what the Biden administration deems “an unprecedented commitment to Israel’s security”, is in doubt as it requires approval from a Congress in disarray.
No package can be considered until the House of Representatives elects a new Speaker, but Republican lawmakers have rejected a plan to empower someone on a temporary basis after failing to elect a leader for the lower chamber.
Some Republicans have also opposed further funding for Ukraine, leaving it unclear whether they would agree to more money for Kyiv when it is tied to assistance for Israel.
In his primetime address from the Oval Office on Thursday, the president cast the funding as an investment in US national security and in domestic manufacturing jobs. “We send Ukraine equipment sitting in our stockpiles, and when we use the money allocated by Congress, we use it to replenish our own stores, our own stockpiles, with new equipment,” Biden said.
That equipment was “made in America”, he said, highlighting the fact that Patriot missiles for air defence batteries are manufactured in Arizona while 12 states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas manufacture artillery shells.
The White House said that $50bn would flow to the domestic defence industrial base, which was already stretched by arming Ukraine, including $3.4bn towards submarine production.
The request for funding for the submarine industrial base is a significant move that will alleviate concerns from some on Capitol Hill that the US does not have the capacity to help Australia obtain nuclear-propelled submarines without hurting its own submarine-building programme.
“Hamas’s horrific attack and its regional impact are a terrible reminder of the uncertainty we see around the globe and the challenges it raises in the global economy,” said Treasury secretary Janet Yellen.
“It also highlights the need for strong international financial institutions that stand ready to respond to economic spillovers of such unexpected crises”, she continued. Biden’s proposal includes financing for the IMF and the World Bank to “provide an alternative to coercive funding” by China, the administration wrote in its letter to Congress.
The Biden administration also asked for $9.15bn for the state department for humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Gaza and Israel, and $13.7bn for US border security.
The package “addresses the global humanitarian impacts of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine and of Hamas’ horrific attacks on Israel, including by extending humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza”, the administration said.
Additional reporting by Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Read the full article here
