White House 'Near the End of the Rope' on Ukraine Aid

Facts

• The White House on Wednesday approved another $200M of military aid to Ukraine, but National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that it's 'coming near to the end of the rope' on how much more assistance the Biden administration can give.¹
• With the speaker position still unfilled by the Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, Congress cannot introduce or pass new legislation that would allow the White House to send additional assistance to Ukraine outside of what's already been approved. The same is true for Israel, whom the US pledged to arm following Hamas' attack this weekend.²
• Asked by reporters at a White House briefing if the US is on the cusp of running out of allocated funds, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said: 'In the near term, we've got appropriations and authorities for both Ukraine and for Israel. But you don’t want to be trying to bake in long-term support when you’re at the end of the rope. And in Ukraine — on the Ukraine funding — we’re coming near to the end of the rope.'¹
• Kirby added: 'The sooner that there's a speaker of the House, obviously, the more comfortable we'll all be in terms of being able to support Israel and Ukraine. Right now...because of existing appropriations and existing authorities, we’ve been okay. But that’s not going to last forever.'¹
• However, it's not only budget allocations that are giving US leadership concerns. According to a CNN report, citing a number of unnamed US defense officials, there is also growing concern in the Pentagon about arming separate wars in Ukraine and Israel while America's own weapons stockpiles are thinning.³
• According to the report, a US defense official said that the Pentagon has this week been contacting US arms manufacturers in order to speed up fulfillment of orders. This is reportedly an effort that is still ongoing.³

Sources: ¹The White House, ²The Guardian and ³CNN.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by The Guardian. Due to the instability in Congress created by Republicans, America's future assistance to Ukraine is now in jeopardy. This creates a risk that Ukraine will no longer be able to meaningfully defend itself from Russian aggression. Republicans need to end this political brinkmanship immediately.
• Right narrative, as provided by The Hill. Irrespective of the next House speaker, the front lines in Ukraine have barely shifted in months of fighting despite over $113B of US funding. Americans are right to ask what the strategy is and how the war will eventually be brought to a close. The US cannot be expected to continually throw money at the war, particularly with problems at home and with the national debt spiraling to over $5T.

Predictions