A powerful U.S. Senate committee approved a military spending bill on Thursday that includes about $1 billion to support Ukraine, despite President Donald Trump's administration having asked Congress to eliminate such funding in its budget request, APA reports citing Reuters.
The Republican-led Senate Appropriations Committee approved $852 billion for the Department of Defense in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2026, which is $21.7 billion, or 2.6%, more than the Republican president requested earlier this year.
The committee voted 26-3 to send the spending measure for a vote in the full Senate, with strong support from both Democrats and Trump's fellow Republicans.
"Not only the prior administration, but this administration as well, have underestimated the level of challenge that we have," said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who chairs the panel's defense subcommittee.
The bill includes $800 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and $225 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, much of which ends up supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia's invasion.
"I would say support for Ukraine is a billion dollars," Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the defense spending subcommittee's top Democrat, told reporters at a briefing ahead of the Appropriations Committee meeting.
Separately, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrat Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, both members of the Appropriations committee, said on Thursday they introduced a bill that would provide $54.6 billion in aid to Ukraine over the next two years.
Despite being bipartisan, the Murkowski-Shaheen bill faces a stiff struggle to become law. Congress last passed a major aid package for Ukraine - $61 billion - in April 2024, when Democrat Joe Biden was still president and his fellow Democrats had a slim majority in the Senate.
Trump's Republicans now control the Senate, House of Representatives and White House.
Follow us on Telegram
t.me/apanewsaz
Follow us on Instagram
Follow us on TikTok
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on X
