Joe Biden Left With Only One Option to Give Ukraine Weapons

President Joe Biden is currently left with only one option to provide Ukraine with more military aid amid their ongoing war with Russia.

During a press briefing on Friday, Biden was asked if he has any other options to get Ukraine more weapons and military aid without Congress passing a foreign aid bill.

"No, but it's about time they step up," Biden said in response. "Instead of going on a two-week vacation ... what are they thinking."

The Context

Earlier this month, the Senate passed a bipartisan foreign aid bill that seeks to provide military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The Senate approved the foreign aid spending bill in a 70-29 vote, and provides $60 billion to Ukraine.

The bill now moves to the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed opposition to the legislation, calling for additional measures to be added relating to securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

What We Know

Following the passage of the bill in the Senate, Biden called on House members to vote in favor of moving the bill forward so he can sign it.

"I call on the speaker to let the full House speak its mind and not allow a minority of the most extreme voices in the House to block this bill even from being voted on," Biden said this week. "This is a critical act for the House to move."

Biden made similar comments on Friday saying "history is watching the House of Representatives."

"The failure to support Ukraine in this critical moment will never be forgotten, it's gonna go down in the pages of history," Biden said. "The clock is ticking and this has to happen. We have to help now."

Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for further comment.

Views

House Speaker Johnson has criticized the foreign aid bill, calling for it to include border security measures.

"[In] the absence of having received any single border policy change from the Senate, the House will have to continue to work its own will on these important matters," Johnson said this week, according to The Hill. "America deserves better than the Senate's status quo."

Former President Donald Trump also criticized the bill, saying, "From this point forward, are you listening U.S. Senate(?), No money in the form of foreign aid should be given to any country unless it is done as a loan, not just a giveaway."

"They want to give like almost $100 billion to a few countries...I said why do we do this? If you do, you give them not $100 billion, you give it to them as a loan," Trump added during a speech in South Carolina.

The White House directed Newsweek to recent remarks made by National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby who said, "Congress has yet to pass the supplemental bill, we have not been able to provide Ukraine with the artillery shells that they desperately need to disrupt these Russian assaults."

"The cost of inaction by the Congress is stark. And it's being born on the shoulders of Ukrainian soldiers. We need Congress to pass the national security supplemental bill without further delay," Kirby added.

What's Next

Johnson said this week that the House "will not be jammed or forced into passing a foreign aid bill." The House is expected take a 13-day recess, with members leaving this week, and it is unclear how a vote will go on the foreign aid package.

Update, 2/16/24, 1:04 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information and to reflect that Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.

Update, 2/16/24, 1:40 p.m. EST: This story has been updated with further information.

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