U.S. public divided on providing Ukraine aid, AP poll shows

WASHINGTON — As lawmakers in Washington weigh sending billions more in federal support to Kyiv to help fight off Russian aggression, close to half of the U.S. public thinks the country is spending too much on aid to Ukraine, according to polling from The Associated PRESS-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Those sentiments, driven primarily by Republicans, help explain the hardening opposition among conservative GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are rebuffing efforts from President Joe Biden to approve a new tranche of Ukraine aid, arguing that the money would be better spent for domestic priorities.

Yet opposition to aid is down slightly from where it was a month ago in another AP-NORC poll. Now, 45 percent say the U.S. government is spending too much on aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia, compared with 52 percent in October. That shift appears to come mostly from Republicans: 59 percent now say too much is spent on Ukraine aid, but that’s down from 69 percent in October.

Nonetheless, the Republican resistance to continued Ukraine aid remains strong.

“I understand the citizens need help, but I feel like we’re spending way too much money on Ukraine when we have our issues here, on our own soil, that we need to deal with,” said Eric Mondello, 40, from Fountain, Colorado. Pointing to needs such as health care for veterans and homelessness in communities, Mondello added: “I understand the U.S. has been an ally to others, but I feel like, let’s take care of our people first.”

More than one-third (38 percent) of U.S. adults say that current spending is “about the right amount,” which is up slightly from last month (31 percent). Among Republicans, nearly 3 in 10 (29 percent) say the current spending is about right, up from 20 percent last month.

The White House has been repeatedly pressing lawmakers to pass Biden’s nearly $106 billion emergency spending package that he proposed in October, which includes more than $61 billion specifically for the war in Ukraine. The rest of Biden’s request has aid for Israel as it battles Hamas, money for various priorities in the Indo-pacific region and additional resources to help manage migration at the southern border.