Stem Ukraine spending now and Putin wins, Austin warns Congress

WASHINGTON — With Congress divided on continuing to flow military aid and weapons into Ukraine, the Pentagon’s top civilian headed to Capitol Hill today with a stark message: Cut aid now, and Russia will win the war.

“It’s hard to put an exact timeline on how long it would take… [but] I can guarantee you without our support, [Vladimir] Putin will be successful,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“And while the Ukrainians have done amazing work with our help, in terms of the things that we provided them, if we pull the rug out from under them now, Putin will only get stronger and he will be successful in doing what he wants to do: In acquiring his neighbor’s sovereign territory,” he said. 

Austin’s warning comes at a perilous time, with the war between Ukraine and Russia more than a year-and-a-half in and signs the American public and political class are tiring of the conflict. Complicating matters further was the Oct. 7 attack in Israel by Hamas, which has given skeptical members of Congress, particularly House Republicans, a new cause to rally around.

But for now, the White House wants to fund both operations. On Oct. 20, $105 billion supplemental spending package that would support both conflicts. Included was $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel and multiple smaller pots of money, including some for Indo-Pacific initiatives. 

Austin, alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken, appeared before to the committee to garner support for that proposal. While peppering the two men with questions about end goals and broader issues like US border security, there appeared to be wide consensus among appropriators that support for both Ukraine and Israel are needed — a stark contrast to the House, where newly minted House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., has responded with his own legislative proposal to only provide $14.3 billion in aid for Israel, and has coupled that support with stripping dollars away from the Internal Revenue Service.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s top Republican, notably pushed back against the notion of “decoupling funding to address these threats” during the hearing.

“The actions of Hamas are nothing less than evil and we must stand by our friend, Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East,” Collins said. “Like Israel, Ukraine was the victim of an unprovoked attack by a repeat violent offender.”

If House Republican’s ultimately stem the flow of additional dollars and weapons to Ukraine, Blinken warned that it will have a ripple effect throughout the NATO Alliance and the “burden sharing” will “almost certainly go away if we go away.”

Additionally, Blinken noted that the supplemental bill was crafted to broadly enhance the defense sector and simply parsing it out would be a difficult endeavor.

“The defense industrial base operates in a complex way: It’s an interdependent unit,” Blinken told lawmakers. “Making these investments together allows us to do what’s needed to strengthen the defense industrial base, and to seize the benefits and efficiencies that come from making these investments together, rather than making them piecemeal.”

For example, from the larger Ukraine pot, Austin said $44.4 billion is aligned to help Ukraine “defend” itself and includes: 

• $18 billion to replenish US military weapon stockpiles reduced from sending Kyiv weapons under the presidential drawdown authority;
• $12 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative that buys new weapons for Eastern European nation;
• $5 billion to cover the cost of additional US troops deployed to the region;
• $2.7 billion to increase weapon production facilities; and
• $1 billion for the acquisition of critical defense articles like munitions. 

“This money is going right back into the coffers of America,” Austin added, a talking point the Biden team has been trying to push in recent weeks.