Senate Democrat Open To Forcing Government Shutdown Over Ukraine Aid

 A Senate Democrat declared this week he is open to shutting down the government if aid to Ukraine is not included in funding legislation.

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, I certainly would be willing to shut the government down over this issue,” Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) said during an interview with NBC News. The senator added that he believes “the stakes are high enough” to justify his position.

Bennet has already signaled that he is willing to put up a fight over securing more funds for Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders.

Over the weekend, the senator temporarily held up a House-passed continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown because it did not include funding for Ukraine. The 45-day spending bill, which did include $16 billion for disaster relief, eventually did get approved by the Senate in an 88-9 vote and signed by President Joe Biden.

Bennet claimed he delayed the Senate vote because he was “deeply worried” about the situation and ultimately secured “a commitment” from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to work together on getting Ukraine funding passed.

What happens next remains uncertain as time runs out for lawmakers to come to an agreement on funding various parts of the federal government in the new fiscal year before another possible government shutdown in mid-November.

 

Leaders of the House Democrats said over the weekend they expected then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to “to advance a bill to the House Floor for an up-or-down vote that supports Ukraine” after the stop-gap measure got passed with bipartisan support.

But, this week, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) filed a “motion to vacate the chair,” after which he and seven other Republicans joined with Democrats in a 216-210 vote that ousted McCarthy.

One of the two GOP members openly campaigning for the speaker’s gavel, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), signaled opposition to moving forward with a Ukraine package. “The most pressing issue on Americans’ mind is not Ukraine — it is the border situation, and is crime on streets,” Jordan said. His office further explained to media outlets that Jordan wants to know more about how the money is being spent and the end goal of the mission.

Biden, who has asked Congress for roughly $24 billion in additional military and humanitarian assistance tied to the Ukraine conflict on top of the roughly $113 billion previously allocated, said he is worried about securing more funding for the cause.

Bennet conceded the House leadership vacuum makes it “a billion times harder” to get Ukraine aid passed, but stressed, “We can’t fail.”

Another Senate Democrat, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), told CNN on Wednesday that he has “every confidence that we’re going to do whatever we have to do to fight to make sure Ukraine funding happens and happens in a way that gives them the unbroken resources that they need to continue to repel this Russian invasion.”