Biden asks Congress for $33 billion in Ukraine aid
Democrats try to forge plan on gas prices
Biden asks Congress for even more military aid for Ukraine. The House approves Lend-Lease for Ukraine. And Democrats roll out their plan on higher gas prices. This is “Regular Order” for April 29, 2022.
UKRAINE. President Biden on Thursday sent Congress a $33 billion aid request for Ukraine, which would deliver more military, economic and humanitarian aid to Kyiv in the face of a Russian invasion. "The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen," Mr. Biden said.
DEFENSE. The proposal includes $20.4 billion in military aid. That covers artillery, armored vehicles, anti-armor, and anti-air platforms for Ukraine's forces. Money would also go for stepped-up U.S. and NATO activities in Europe.
ECONOMIC. The President also asked for $8.5 billion in economic aid for the government of Ukraine, to help with food, energy, health care, and other critical needs.
HUMANITARIAN. There is also $3 billion in humanitarian aid focused on food security in Ukraine - and around the globe, for those areas impacted by a lack of shipments from Ukraine.
TIMING. The House is out next week, and does not return until May 10. It's always possible the Senate could try to pass the package first. The goal is to get the bill done by a Memorial Day break.
OLIGARCHS. As part of the $33 billion aid request, the White House on Thursday proposed a plan to sell yachts of Russian oligarchs which have been seized since the start of the invasion of Ukraine. "Seize yachts, fund the war," said White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain.
WHITE HOUSE. "This package of proposals will establish new authorities for the forfeiture of property linked to Russian kleptocracy, allow the government to use the proceeds to support Ukraine, and further strengthen related law enforcement tools," the White House said. Read the full fact sheet at this link.
CONGRESS. The proposal was unveiled a day after the House voted 417-8 to urge the President to follow this course as a way to raise money for Ukraine. "Russian money should be used to rebuild Ukraine and pay for the consequences of their brutal war,” said Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK).
AOC. One of the eight House members who voted 'No' was Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Her office told me this plan would violate the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure. "This sets a risky new precedent," the New York Democrat said in a written statement.
REP. AOC. This also brings up a larger point. I usually steer clear of Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter, because a post which involves her can rapidly draw thousands of outraged responses. In this case, the reason her office tweeted that statement to me was because of all of the attention given to my simple tweet about who voted ‘No.’
POLAND. This is also a reminder that the whole world is watching. This tweet came from a member of the Polish Parliament, after he saw my post. He is a fan of Ocasio-Cortez. But he is not happy with her vote.
LEND-LEASE. The House on Thursday sent President Biden a bill which will allow the U.S. to more quickly ship needed supplies to Ukraine. The vote was 417-10. "We must continue to hold Putin accountable for the devastation and loss of life caused by this war & stand with Ukraine," said Rep. Susan DelBene (D-WA).
ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY. The debate had lawmakers thinking back in time. "Lend Lease helped defeat tyranny in World War II," said Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA). "Now we'll use it to help Ukraine repel an aggressive dictator," said Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL).
NO VOTES. All ten votes against the bill came from Republicans: Biggs AZ, Bishop NC, Davidson OH, Gaetz FL, Gosar AZ, Greene GA, Massie KY, Norman SC, Perry PA, and Tiffany WI.
STUDENT DEBT. President Biden confirmed to reporters that he's looking possible executive action to reduce the amount that some Americans owe in student loans. "I am considering dealing with some debt reduction," the President said Thursday. "I am not considering $50,000 in debt reduction."
DEMS. More progressive Democrats have been asking for this type of move for months. "Our communities are counting on us to get this done," said Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-CA), who was part of a White House meeting earlier this week where Mr. Biden promised action.
GOP. For Republicans, this will be an issue that plays to their argument that Democrats are just the elite - and not Joe Six Pack.
ECONOMY. The White House faced a gloomy headline on Thursday, as the feds reported that economic growth went in reverse in the first quarter of this year. After the fourth quarter of 2021 had an annual growth rate of 6.9 percent, that slowed to minus-1.4 percent. It raised the specter of an election year recession.
GOP. Republicans immediately attacked. "Joe Biden’s policies have managed to do something that even a global pandemic hasn’t pulled off in 2 years: shrink the U.S. economy," said Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL). "The failed economic policies of the Biden Administration are coming home to roost," said Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL).
GAS PRICES. Feeling the heat over inflation, high gas prices, and rising food prices, Democratic leaders on Thursday pledged to put together plans to give regulators at the Federal Trade Commission more power to crack down on Big Oil when it comes to price gouging, profiteering, and market manipulation.
LEADERS. "It is time for the F.T.C. to roll up its sleeves and drill down on what’s going on at the Big Oil companies," said Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, who called the oil industry 'vultures' for using their profits to buy back company stock - instead of holding down prices for consumers.
GAS TAX. Democrats decided against the idea of a federal gas tax holiday, worried that the benefits won't reach the driving public, and concerned by the cost of losing that revenue. That idea had been floated by several Senate Democrats who are up for re-election this year.
OIL AND GAS. Obviously, Democrats did not include any GOP ideas which would focus more on spurring additional domestic oil and gas production. "Biden's war against American energy producers is fueling high gas prices," said Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX).
SENATE. Sen. Schumer almost seemed to be anticipating a GOP filibuster. "Which side are they on? Of the consumer and lowering gas prices? Or on the side of Big Oil? We’ll soon find out."
MAYORKAS. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was the Republican Party's personal piñata on Thursday, as he took flak from GOP lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee over the situation along the Mexican border. "Mayorkas doesn’t listen," said Rep. Carlos Giminez (R-FL). "The day is coming where he will be held accountable."
HEARING. Republicans all but gave Mayorkas the middle finger live on TV, as they said their constituents had lost faith in his border work. "They believe you're a traitor," Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said. "They compare you to Benedict Arnold."
VETERANS. Republicans are already pressing to change the Biden Administration's plans to deal with a possible migrant surge if a Coronavirus restriction (Title 42) is lifted at the border. Two GOP Senators introduced a bill this week to block the VA from sending any medical staff to help deal with an immigration surge.
GOP. "The President taking resources away from our veterans to try and fix the border mess he’s created would be unfair and bad policy, and there’s no way this administration should be allowed to do it," said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).
TITLE 42. The last two days of prickly hearings for Mayorkas are a stark reminder that Republicans have a lot of pressure points on the Democrats when it comes to immigration policy. If the border numbers were small, no one would care. But those migrant figures have jumped dramatically.
LEGISLATIVE NERD NOTE. The Senate on Thursday officially approved a House-Senate conference committee to negotiate a final deal on a sweeping bipartisan competitiveness bill. Normally, this would not be something to note, but the way Congress works has changed. A lot.
CONFERENCE COMMITTEES. It used to be that all sorts of bills would be passed by the House, amended by the Senate, and then sent to a joint conference committee to hammer out a final agreement. But this is the first one in the entire 117th Congress.
HISTORY. 66 bills went to a House-Senate conference committee in the 104th Congress, when Newt Gingrich was Speaker in 1995-96. That dropped to 16 bills in the 110th Congress in 2007-2008. There were only three in the last Congress. Now final deals are worked out by the leadership.
CAWTHORN. Could Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) be in primary trouble? He's certainly had his share of bad news in the last few weeks, punctuated by being stopped again in recent days by the TSA - carrying a gun in his carry-on bag. Check out this polling memo on his race.
POLL. In a memo for the Republican GOPAC organization, Cawthorn's situation certainly raises red flags. "First, by every metric, Cawthorn’s campaign trajectory is terrible," the report states, noting a big drop in his support and favorability ratings.
ANOTHER SHOE. Cawthorn's voters have yet another story now to wonder about, as questions were raised last night about Cawthorn's ties to a member of his staff. The oppo dump hitting Cawthorn this week - from conservative news sources - tells me the GOP is fed up with him.
TRUMP. Starting on Tuesday in Ohio, we're going to get a pretty solid check on Donald Trump's control over the Republican Party. The month of May has GOP primaries for U.S. Senate in Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Alabama - along with the Governor's race in Georgia - those will show very clearly where Trump stands. That's my column this week in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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MUSE OF HISTORY. April 29, 1858. On this date, Sen. Stephen Douglas of Illinois announced his opposition to the latest plan to allow Kansas to become a state, under the LeCompton Constitution which would allow slavery. Already at odds with President Buchanan, Douglas blasted the idea of offering land to Kansas as a carrot, just months after voters rejected that state constitution. "The great principle for which we have all contended," Douglas said, "is to leave the people perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way." Kansas would not become a state until during the Civil War in 1861, when it finally entered the Union as a free state.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes the week of May 9.
The Senate convenes next on Monday.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
See the full Regular Order archive.
Where is the oppo on MTG!!??
Man, those Poles are ruthless…..