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The aid package was already authorized by Congress, Holmes
Posted on: September 21, 2019 at 10:04:21 CT
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WASHINGTON ― The White House has relinquished its hold on $250 million in military aid to Ukraine after weeks of bipartisan pressure from lawmakers who said the funding was needed to deter Russia.
Republicans and Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Thursday the administration had relented late Wednesday. The news emerged in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on fiscal 2020 defense spending.
President Donald Trump’s initial hold angered some lawmakers who are typically his allies, including South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that covers State Department spending.
“I will be the strongest voice here if they don’t timely release the [2020 military aid],” Graham said.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pressuring the Trump administration to release $250 million in military aid to Ukraine.
It was the White House Office of Management and Budget that lifted the hold, which applied to both the $250 million in the Pentagon’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $141.5 million in foreign military financing being prepared separately by the State Department, according to congressional sources.
“Many of the people in Congress did want to see the money freed up,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, another Trump ally. “I had lots of discussions with the administration about this, but they were between me and the administration — the chief administrator to be exact.”
Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, speculated that an amendment he planned to offer Thursday on the matter forced the administration’s hand on the money, which Congress approved in the FY19 budget.
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/09/12/white-house-releases-250-million-in-ukraine-military-aid/
Republicans and Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee said Thursday the administration had relented late Wednesday. The news emerged in a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on fiscal 2020 defense spending.
President Donald Trump’s initial hold angered some lawmakers who are typically his allies, including South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who chairs the Senate subcommittee that covers State Department spending.
“I will be the strongest voice here if they don’t timely release the [2020 military aid],” Graham said.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pressuring the Trump administration to release $250 million in military aid to Ukraine.
It was the White House Office of Management and Budget that lifted the hold, which applied to both the $250 million in the Pentagon’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and $141.5 million in foreign military financing being prepared separately by the State Department, according to congressional sources.
“Many of the people in Congress did want to see the money freed up,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch, R-Idaho, another Trump ally. “I had lots of discussions with the administration about this, but they were between me and the administration — the chief administrator to be exact.”
Sen. Richard Durbin, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, speculated that an amendment he planned to offer Thursday on the matter forced the administration’s hand on the money, which Congress approved in the FY19 budget.
https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2019/09/12/white-house-releases-250-million-in-ukraine-military-aid/
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The aid package was already authorized by Congress, Holmes - Ace AU - 9/21 10:04:21