President Joe Biden on Friday criticized the House for taking a two-week break amid a heated push for additional funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
After addressing reports of Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny’s death on Friday, Biden was asked by reporters whether there was any way to get additional ammunition to Ukraine without the passage of a supplemental funding bill by Congress.
“No, but it’s about time they step up, don’t you think?” the president said. “Instead of going on a two-week vacation.”
Biden raised his voice: “Two weeks, they’re walking away. Two weeks. What are they thinking? My God, this is bizarre, and it’s just reinforcing all of the concern and almost – I won’t say panic – but real concern about the United States being a reliable ally. This is outrageous.”
The push comes at a crucial time for Ukraine. American officials previously warned that US aid to the war-torn country ran out last year, and the US provides more funding than any other country to Ukraine.
The Senate passed a bipartisan $95 billion bill that provided the Ukraine funding, along with support for Taiwan and Israel, but House Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled he won’t bring the bill to the House floor. The House is on recess until the end of this month.
Responding to Nalvany’s reported death, Johnson said that while “Congress debates the best path forward to support Ukraine, the United States, and our partners, must be using every means available to cut off Putin’s ability to fund his unprovoked war in Ukraine and aggression against the Baltic states.”
Johnson and other House Republicans had demanded that any additional funding to Ukraine be tied to significant immigration-related funding and policy changes. Democrats made some concessions for the Senate bill, but prospects of a funding bill passing the House were torpedoed after former President Donald Trump pushed Republicans to oppose it.
And the prospects of additional funding after the election remains in question if Trump, the GOP frontrunner who recently signaled indifference to Russia invading a NATO ally, wins in the fall.
A small group of bipartisan House members have unveiled their own plan to send more money to Ukraine in an effort to put pressure on Johnson to act. But, it’s unclear whether that could get enough support in the chamber.
Biden said on Friday that “failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten.”
“Now, as I said before, and I mean this in a literal sense, history is watching. History is watching the House of Representatives,” the president said.
Asked whether Navalny’s reported death would burgeon support for additional funding from members of Congress, Biden said “I hope to God it helps.”
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
