White House seeks $33B supplemental spending package for Ukraine

The White House is requesting Congress provide more than $33 billion to fund an emergency aid package to Ukraine, which includes $16.4 billion for the Defense Department, $14.1 billion for the State Department and the rest of the funding divided among other executive branch agencies.

The DOD portion of the request, which among other things would establish a new “Critical Munitions Acquisition Fund,” includes $11.6 billion in funding to provide additional weapons and capabilities to the Ukrainian military as it attempts to fight off an ongoing Russian invasion, according to a White House fact sheet.

The DOD funding includes $6 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which directly supports Ukraine by funding the acquisition of weapons, and $5.4 billion to replenish U.S. stocks provided to Ukraine under presidential drawdown authority.

Key weapon systems include additional artillery, armored vehicles, anti-armor and anti-air capabilities, as well as cyber capabilities and advanced air defense systems.

Additionally, the DOD funding would put $2.6 billion toward the deployment of U.S. military units to support the U.S. European Command and NATO.

A further $1.9 billion would be spent on “cybersecurity, intelligence and other support,” the fact sheet states.

“This funding supports ongoing operational surges across multiple national defense components, including accelerated cyber capabilities, weapons systems upgrades, increased intelligence support, improving industrial base production capabilities for missiles and strategic minerals, and classified programs,” the fact sheet states.

Another $550 million in the DOD portion of the request would be spent on critical munitions and defense exports.

“This includes $500 million to establish a Critical Munitions Acquisition Fund to procure high-demand munitions for the U.S. and approved coalition partners, build critical war reserves, and expedite availability of munition systems,” the fact sheet states.

An additional $50 million would be used to establish a “Defense Exportability Transfer Account” to enable DOD to make more systems “exportable and coalition interoperable,” according to the fact sheet.

The State Department portion of the request would be used to “bolster U.S. economic and security assistance to Ukraine as well as regional allies and partners (e.g. Poland, Lithuania, the Baltics, and Eastern flank countries),” the fact sheet states.

The request also includes $1.2 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services to support Ukrainians entering the United States through a special assistance program.

The Treasury Department request for $650 million would allow the United States to “work through the international financial institutions to support Ukraine and other countries impacted by the crisis,” according to the fact sheet.

The request also includes $620 million for the Agriculture Department to mitigate global food disruptions, as well as $67 million for the Justice Department to support a task force aimed at pursuing “high value asset seizures of sanctioned individuals related to Russian actions in Ukraine,” the fact sheet states.