US support for Ukraine softening
Biden challenged to keep pledge of more aid as politics shift
WASHINGTON — When he made his surprise wartime trip to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv last month, President Joe Biden reassured that country with great confidence that “the Americans stand with you.” But the question that remains unanswered is: For how long?
For all of the president’s bravado while he was abroad, the politics of Ukraine back home in the United States are shifting noticeably and, for the White House, worryingly. Polls show public support for arming the Ukrainians softening while the two leading Republican presidential candidates are increasingly speaking out against involvement in the war.
While the bipartisan coalition in Congress favoring Ukraine has been strong in the year since Russia’s invasion, supporters of more aid fear the centrifugal forces of the emerging presidential contest and growing taxpayer fatigue with shipping tens of billions of dollars overseas may undercut the war effort before Moscow can be defeated.
Some of them are frustrated that Biden has not done more.
The evolving dynamics were on full display last week when House Republicans, exercising the power of their new majority, pressed Pentagon officials at two hearings about spending on Ukraine, grilling them about where the money is going and vowing to hold them accountable. Despite Biden’s pledge, the Ukrainian government has grown concerned enough that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to set
up a telephone call with Speaker Kevin McCarthy to make his country’s case.
Overall, public support for Ukraine aid has fallen from 60% last May to 48% now, according to surveys by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The share of Americans who think the United States has given too much to Ukraine has grown from 7% a year ago to 26% last month, according to the Pew Research Center.
Even supporters make clear their commitment is not endless. While 50% of those surveyed by Fox News said support should continue for “as long as it takes to win,” 46% said it should be limited.
Although skepticism of Ukraine aid has grown on both sides of the aisle, the party breakdown has been
striking. According to Pew, 40% of Republicans think too much has been given compared with 15% of Democrats. The good news for Biden is that Americans have grown more supportive of his handling of the war, with 48% approving of his response to the invasion in the Fox poll compared with 40% in August.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said support remains powerful in Congress itself.
“Yes, there are a small number of members on Capitol Hill, in the House Republicans specifically, that have expressed publicly their concerns about support for Ukraine,” he said at a recent briefing. “But if you talk to the House leadership, you won’t hear that. And you certainly
aren’t going to hear it on the Democratic side. And you don’t hear it in the Senate.”
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, and key House Republicans like Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, have pushed Biden from the other side, arguing he is not doing enough for Ukraine.
But McCarthy, who in last fall’s campaign said there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine in a GOP House, is under pressure from a small but vocal part of his caucus critical of the U.S.’ involvement in the war and encouraged by Fox News’ Tucker Carlson. .
Among those pushing McCarthy to block future aid is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a former QAnon adherent who has
become a key ally since helping him win the speakership. Speaking to Just the News, a conservative website, this week, Greene said she opposed the war in Ukraine.
“But you know who’s driving it?” she asked. “It’s America. America needs to stop pushing the war in Ukraine.”
While she and her allies have been on the margins of the Republican Party on Ukraine, the center of gravity may be shifting.
Trump lashed out at Biden last week for visiting Kyiv instead of East Palestine, Ohio, the site of a recent toxic train derailment. In a fundraising video, Trump said, “We’re teetering on the brink of World War III” thanks to Biden and promised to “end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida,
his most formidable potential challenger for the 2024 nomination, sought to match Trump, criticizing what he called the “openended blank check” for Ukraine and saying “I don’t think it’s in our interest” to be involved in the fight for territory seized by Russia.
So far, Congress has approved $113 billion in military, economic, humanitarian and other aid for Ukraine, not all of which has been spent.
Anticipating trouble from the new Republican House, the White House and lameduck Democratic majority last winter pushed through an aid package large enough to last until summer. At the current rate of spending, it would run out by mid-July, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.