A $13.6 billion emergency package of military and humanitarian aid for besieged Ukraine and its European allies is sailing toward final congressional approval
White House aides told Congress last month that Biden wanted $6.4 billion to counter Russia's invasion. He ended up formally requesting $10 billion, an amount that it took an eager Congress just a few days to boost to its final figure of $13.6 billion.
Republicans lay claim to an almost 6% boost for defense, including money for 85 advanced F-35 fighter planes, 13 new Navy ships, upgrades for 90 Abrams tanks, a pay raise for troops and improvements for schools on military bases. There would be another $300 million for Ukraine and $300 million for other Eastern European allies on top of the measure's emergency funding.
The practice restored, the expansive spending bill was laced with thousands of the projects at a price tag of several billion dollars. A decade or two ago, the numbers were often even higher than that. Months of talks finally produced the compromise spending pact this week. With the latest temporary spending measure expiring Friday night, passage of the $1.5 trillion bill would avert a weekend federal shutdown — which was never going to happen because neither party had any reason to spark such a battle.
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