Top lawmakers are preparing for a supplemental funding request from the White House for additional aid to Israel and Ukraine as soon as this week amid ongoing wars in both countries, two congressional aides and two administration officials told NBC News.
The request could be submitted to Congress in the latter half of this week but a final decision has not been determined, the sources said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan signaled the potential action this week during an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“The president has made clear that he is going to go to Congress with a package of funding for Ukraine as well as continued support for Israel,” he said. “You can expect intensive engagement with Congress this very week, as we work on such a package and seek to secure bipartisan support for it.”
Specific details of the package, such as the amount of humanitarian assistance to either countries, have not yet been made public.
Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv on Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who’s leading a congressional delegation trip to Israel, said he and other members have talked with Israeli leaders about their needs.
We heard from “Israeli leaders about what is needed, and in munitions, we heard about precision guided bombs. We heard about Iron Dome replacement. We heard about 155 millimeter mortars. We heard about JDAMs [joint direct attack munitions] and many other things,” Schumer said. “And we also talked about what kinds of intelligence help they needed and well as diplomatic help that we might be able to do as well.”
Schumer said he would direct Democratic Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, Patty Murray of Washington and Ben Cardin of Maryland — chairs of the Armed Services, Appropriations and Foreign Relations committees, respectively — to work with Republican counterparts and Biden administration officials to produce “the most generous package possible”.
Schumer added that the Senate would move first and not wait for the House. House lawmakers on both sides of the aisle met with White House officials on Friday to discuss plans for sending aid to Israel.
He said lawmakers communicated to Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that humanitarian assistance would also be part of the funding Congress could approve.
“We also told them, it was really important to and it’s difficult, we know it’s difficult but still, we have to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza,” Schumer said.
In the wake of Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel, the White House and some key lawmakers have been discussing linking Ukraine and Israel aid. However, some House Republicans are opposed to the idea.
Biden administration officials privately told lawmakers that the White House is preparing a supplemental funding request to submit to Congress that includes money for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and U.S. border security, two congressional officials, an administration official and a defense official told NBC News last week.
Administration officials said the request would aim to address concerns related to the strain that providing additional military support for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan would place on the Defense Department’s stockpiles, the source said, by requesting money to build more weapons.
Molly Roecker and Ryan Nobles contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
