August 11, 2023
The White House just asked congress for more than $40 billion in *new* funding. And yes – a bulk of that money would go to fund the efforts in Ukraine.
Right now Congress is on recess but lawmakers have been working and will continue to work on the spending bills that need to be passed for the upcoming fiscal year. And every year when this process is underway it’s very normal for the white house to put in what’s called a supplemental funding request.
It’s important for you to understand – just because this is what the President is asking for does *not* mean this is what he’s going to get. Especially with the recent push back from some lawmakers about the money being spent on Ukraine.
So here’s what the president is asking for – for the first quarter of 2024.
If approved the vast majority of this money would be going towards military, financial and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine. That includes several things like, $13 billion for defense funds of that $9.9 billion would be for equipment and replenishment of our own pentagon stockpiles, $8.5 billion in funding for our state department to provide economic and humanitarian security assistance and $3.6 billion would be for continued military, intelligence and other defense support.
The president is also asking for about $4 billion in additional funding for border and migration efforts at the southern border. Of that $2.2 billion would be allocated for border management, shelter and services for migrants. Tucked in there is a $416 million request for homeland security for a nonintrusive “inspection system” and other measures to counter fentanyl trafficking.
The president is also asking for $12 billion in supplemental funds for FEMA here at home. This is in response to all the natural disasters the federal government has had to respond to, from the wildfires in Maui and California to hurricanes in florida which are expected to get worse in the coming weeks.
When Congress returns after Labor Day, they will have just a few weeks to come to a deal and vote on not only this supplemental funding request but also on all the specific funding bills that keep our government running. If they can’t do that by September 30th the government is scheduled to shut down.
Supplemental funding request here.
