Zelensky returning to a chillier, more chaotic Congress

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is returning to Washington less than a year after he last visited, seeking to solidify support for his country as chaos on Capitol Hill threatens both the U.S. economy and America’s support for Ukraine. 

Standing side by side with President Biden will send a signal of America’s commitment to Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion. But his meetings with lawmakers are likely to highlight the growing skepticism over the cost of ongoing U.S. support for Ukraine in Congress, which ultimately has control over additional military and financial assistance.

Criticism has been the loudest in the House, where a growing group of far-right Republicans want to cut off funding entirely. But even in the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has said there’s “unanimity” in support for Ukraine, there’s significant fractures on what that support entails. 

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has earlier put up roadblocks in the Senate on passing funding for Ukraine, delaying for at least a week a $40 billion aid package in May 2022. When the Senate brought the bill to a vote on the floor, Paul led 10 other senators in opposing the measure. 

Asked by The Hill on Monday night if he would attend the meeting with Zelensky, Paul quipped, “Is that a welfare hearing? What is that for?”

“I don’t think we should be sending any more money,” he said. “I’m just not for sending them any more money.”

Biden has requested $24 billion in additional funding for Ukraine, to include security, economic and humanitarian assistance for Kyiv, and funds for “countries and vulnerable populations worldwide impacted by Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine.” 

But some Republican lawmakers have long opposed nonmilitary assistance.

“I’ve always been in favor of munitions and military equipment, but I am not in favor of continuing just blank financial support,” said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), a member of Senate GOP leadership and the Armed Services Committee.

“I think that our friends and allies in Europe can do that. Let’s be the arsenal of democracy and provide what they need to win the war, but our friends and allies can step up with humanitarian aid.” 

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) had earlier told The Hill that rallying support for Ukraine ahead of a new supplemental “gets harder every time.” 

And Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who called for “patience” to allow Ukraine to achieve victory over Russia, nonetheless was critical of the $24 billion price tag.

“Might be too much right now. I think we ought to take a few smaller steps at a time,” he told The Hill. 

Zelensky is expected to meet with congressional leadership and a limited number of lawmakers. While the meeting with the Ukrainian president is open to all senators, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is reserving a specific number of seats for lawmakers and is extending invitations related to committee assignments, but did not offer specifics. 

“Our meeting is a bipartisan, just in the House, some members on each side,” McCarthy told reporters Monday night.

Zelensky’s visit to Washington is a marked difference from his historic trip to America’s capital in December, which marked his first exit from Ukraine more than 300 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion Feb. 24, 2022. 

At that time, Zelensky delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress, which was under control of a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate. 

“President Zelensky is here later this week to make his appeal. I don’t believe he’ll be addressing the entire U.S. Congress because it’s no longer tenable, I think, for Speaker McCarthy to host that type of forum,” Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) said during a panel discussion Tuesday morning with the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

“It’s going to be smaller group meetings, which is a sign of that erosion of support,” he added, specifically calling out GOP lawmakers.

Fifty-seven House Republicans voted against the May 2022 Ukraine supplemental package, and many of these same lawmakers — along with some new ones that joined the House in January — are vocally opposing additional support for Ukraine.

It’s a number that doesn’t immediately threaten majority support for Ukraine in both chambers. But many of the same GOP lawmakers are part of the minority wing of the party threatening a government shutdown over spending cut demands.

That prospect is raising worries among America’s allies abroad that the U.S. may be unable to maintain its position as the head of the global coalition pushing back against Russian aggression, or remain stable enough to confront other adversaries like China. 

Phillips said the pressure on lawmakers to put domestic concerns ahead of foreign policy is affecting both Republicans and Democrats.

“They [Republicans] are hearing the same thing that many of us are hearing when we go home to our districts which is: How can we be a country that allows people to sleep on our streets, children to go hungry, and yet find $100 billion to send to a country that an overwhelming majority of the country couldn’t even find on a map, let alone ever visit?” he explained at the AEI event.

“And we say, ‘Well, we’re defending democracy,’ and some of these constituents say, ‘Well, I can’t afford groceries, who are you really defending?’”

Biden and lawmakers supportive of Ukraine argue that the U.S. and its partners must push back against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s violation of global norms, both to maintain global order and deter other authoritarian leaders, such as Chinese President Xi Jinping, from carrying out aggression in places like Taiwan. 

And they point to the fact that U.S. military assistance is being used effectively by Ukraine to push back against Russian aggression, with no cost to the lives of American soldiers. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a staunch Ukraine backer, noted Tuesday that much of the money spent on Ukraine is supporting American weapons manufacturers. 

McCarthy pointed out Monday that much of the money being spent on Ukraine was to replenish U.S. stockpiles after sending Ukraine old ammunition. “That’s where we spend the dollars. That’s where we send the dollars,” he said. 

McCarthy wants funding for Ukraine to be passed as a stand-alone bill, but has been noncommittal about if such assistance will eventually pass the House.

“I think we look through it, but the one thing I think the House is very concerned about is what’s happening in America first,” he said. 

“We see a border in America that is not secure. We want to make sure the American border is secure. I think that will take priority for a lot of people.”