Huge figure, huge political bet: Joe Biden is asking Congress for an additional budget of $105.85 billion to help Israel and Ukraine, stand up to China and respond to migrant arrivals at the southern border. “The world is watching and the American people rightly expect their leaders to agree to meet these priorities,” commented Shalanda Young, director of budgetary affairs at the White House, detailing the figures.
61.4 billion dollars for Ukraine, 14.3 for Israel
The Democratic president, for whom it will be very difficult to wrest a political consensus from Republicans in the midst of a crisis, is demanding in particular 61.4 billion dollars (of which 30 would be spent on arms) for Ukraine and 14.3 billion ( including 10.6 in armaments) for Israel. The White House argues that this money, to manufacture defense equipment for these two countries and replenish the stocks of the American army, will partly return to arms factories in the United States.
Joe Biden, who on Thursday described America as a “beacon” of democratic aspirations in the world, also wants 7.4 billion to stand up to China, militarily by investing in submarines and economically by competing with large Chinese projects in developing countries. The 80-year-old Democrat also estimates that he would need a little more than 9 billion to respond to international humanitarian crises, including in the Gaza Strip.
The American president is also putting pressure on his conservative adversaries by asking for funds to respond to illegal immigration and trafficking. The White House is asking Congress, divided between the Democratic Senate and the Republican House of Representatives, for a little more than $12 billion to strengthen the border with Mexico and fight fentanyl trafficking, responsible for thousands of overdose deaths in the United States. United every year.
A request against a backdrop of crisis in Congress
“We will not accept that those who refuse to act teach us lessons,” said Shalanda Young, in reference to recurring criticism from the right on Joe Biden’s supposed laxity in the face of migrant arrivals at the southern border. The American president, candidate for re-election, affirmed Thursday, from the very solemn setting of the Oval Office, that the United States would be more secure “for generations” if it supported both Israel and Ukraine.
“History has taught us that when terrorists do not pay for their actions, when dictators do not pay for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and destruction. They persist, and the cost and the threats weigh on America and the world continue to grow,” Joe Biden warned. “We cannot let petty politicians (…) get in the way of our responsibilities as a great nation,” the Democrat said again towards the end of his speech, only the second in the Oval Office since his election. .
He must deal with a paralyzed Congress, because of the quarrels between the Trumpists and the moderate Republicans, incapable of forming a coherent majority in the House of Representatives. The hard right is trying to impose one of its own at the head of the House, without success for the moment. The institution is therefore incapable of passing any law, while the federal state still has no budget for its annual fiscal year, which began on October 1.
If Congress does not adopt a budget before November 17, the country will go straight to “shutdown”, the paralysis of federal administrations and the United States aid to Ukraine would threaten to run out. Washington has so far already committed to devoting more than 70 billion dollars to kyiv, including nearly 45 billion in military assistance. Some Republican parliamentarians, those most on the right, want to stop there. The same people, on the other hand, are calling for muscular assistance to Israel.