US House of Representatives approves US$300 million budget for Ukraine

The US House of Representatives voted for the draft US defence budget for next year, with USD$300 million for Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda, referring to Voice of America

Details: It is noted that five amendments, which demanded to reduce or completely stop aid to Ukraine, did not receive votes. In particular, the amendment of Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, which demanded to remove USD$300 million for Ukraine from the defence budget, was rejected. An amendment by Republican Matt Gaetz, which demanded the cancellation of all security assistance to Ukraine, also failed.

USD$300 million to support Ukraine is equivalent to the amount requested by the Biden administration but, at the same time, USD$500 million less than was agreed last year. Then, as part of the US defence budget, Ukraine was allocated USD$800 million (Congress increased the amount to USD$300 million that the administration proposed).

This year, Democrat Jared Golden tried to introduce an amendment to increase the proposed aid to Ukraine in the 2024 US defence budget by USD$500 million to match last year's final amount. But the proposal did not pass the House Armed Services Committee.

In addition, one of the document's sections calls for extending the Lend-Lease Act for Ukraine, adopted in 2022, for at least one more year. The draft defence budget of the Senate also stipulates that general support for Ukraine should be extended at least until 2027.

Separate funds are earmarked for research into the potential for the creation of a centre of excellence in Ukraine for the treatment of brain injuries, limb injuries and amputations resulting from Russian aggression.

Typically, the US Department of Defence prescribes a plan of necessary expenditures and needs in the field of defence for each subsequent year. Later, the House of Representatives and the Senate create their own defence budget bills, which, after consideration by the committees, are brought to the floor for a final vote. The House of Representatives votes first, then the Senate. Subsequently, the final version is agreed upon and sent to the president for signature.

Consideration of the defence budget in the Senate is already scheduled for Tuesday, 18 July.

In the Senate project, the total amount of the defence budget is more than USD$886 billion, and in the House of Representatives project, USD$874 billion.

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