The Washington Post - USA (2022-03-06)

A20 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, MARCH 6 , 2022

war in ukraine

BY TONY ROMM

Senate Republicans have issued

a series of early threats against a

still-forming deal to fund the fed-

eral government, signaling that

they could delay the package —

which may include e mergency aid

to Ukraine — over concerns about

excessive spending and vaccine

mandates.

The early warnings, delivered

in two letters to Senate Majority

Leader Charles E. Schumer

(D-N.Y.), could slow lawmakers’

time-sensitive work as Russia’s i n-

cursion into Ukraine is intensify-

ing — all while Washington f aces a

March 11 deadline to fund federal

agencies and avoid a government

shutdown.

In t he first letter, sent Thursday,

eight G OP l awmakers complained

that “families are feeling the pres-

sure of s kyrocketing prices,” w hich

they blamed on “reckless govern-

ment spending.” They said they

“cannot allow another massive

spending package to be rushed

through Congress without proper

consideration and scrutiny.”

The letter demanded “appro-

priate time” to read and review

any funding bill. It also called for

an o fficial analysis b y the Congres-

sional Budget Office to assess the

impact of the legislation on infla-

tion and the federal debt. And it

signaled that Senate Republicans

could withhold their votes if their

terms are not met, potentially

slowing d ebate t o a crawl.

“Until we can fully understand

what is in any potential [spend-

ing] bill, its impact on the fiscal

strength of the United States, and

how it will influence our nation’s

growing inflation c risis, we should

not v ote on it,” they wrote.

Signing the missive were Re-

publican Sens. Rick Scott (Fla.),

Cynthia M. Lummis (Wyo.), Ted

Cruz (Tex.), Roger Marshall (Kan.),

Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Mike

Braun (Ind.), Ron Johnson (Wis.)

and Mike L ee ( Utah).

In the second note, sent Friday,

10 Republicans r evived their cam-

paign against federal vaccine and

testing requirements. Even as

public health officials broadly

maintain that the policies help

curtail the spread of the coronavi-

rus, the GOP lawmakers pledged

they would “stand against these

mandates until they are discontin-

ued in ambition, design and prac-

tice.”

Specifically, the Republicans

promised to block lawmakers

from f orging ahead s wiftly t o pass

the bill if it f unds implementation

of mandates. T hey said “ at t he v ery

least” they would “require a roll-

call vote on an amendment that

defunds e nforcement,” a move Re-

publicans have demanded in oth-

er recent government funding

fights.

The second missive was signed

by some of the same Republicans,

plus Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.) and

Steve Daines ( Mont.).

While it is unclear how far Sen-

ate Republicans might take their

latest threats, their twin missives

added to the challenges facing

congressional l eaders a s they seek

to cobble together a long-term

government funding deal, a goal

that has eluded them for months.

Both sides insist they do not want

a shutdown, although their bick-

ering repeatedly has pushed the

country to the brink over the past

year.

For now, Democrats and Re-

publicans say they are making

progress on a long-term deal,

which could include massive in-

creases in spending at key domes-

tic agencies as well as the Penta-

gon. House Majority L eader S teny

H. Hoyer (D-Md.) previously has

said t hat he hopes to hold a v ote on

the package, known in congres-

sional parlance as an omnibus, as

soon as Tuesday, leaving the Sen-

ate a short window to act before

the March 11 deadline.

Their efforts have g ained great-

er urgency as a result of Russia’s

invasion of Ukraine, since law-

makers in both parties see the

funding measure as an opportu-

nity t o deliver billions of dollars in

new humanitarian and military

assistance. Senior administration

aides this week requested about

$10 billion in emergency funding

for Ukraine, which some Demo-

crats and Republicans hope to

augment with further punish-

ments against Russia, including

limits on imports of Russian oil.

On Saturday, Ukrainian Presi-

dent Volodymyr Zelensky ad-

dressed U. S. lawmakers via Zoom

and pleaded for more assistance to

his war-torn nation. His request

included the provision of addi-

tional lethal aid, as well a s support

for a global effort to stop buying

Russian oil.

Exiting the call, Sen. Christo-

pher A. Coons (D-Del.) said Zel-

ensky’s “call to action must lead t o

swift passage by Congress of the

$10 billion in emergency supple-

mental aid.”

Cruz, Lee and some other Re-

publicans issuing threats against

the spending bill have a history of

using government f unding battles

to advance p olitical o bjectives. R e-

cently, the duo has forced Demo-

crats to hold a series of ill-fated

votes targeting President Biden’s

policies requiring coronavirus

vaccines and testing, nearly push-

ing the government t o shut down.

Scott, meanwhile, has found

himself a t odds in recent days with

some members of his own party

over his economic plan, released

in February. That proposal has

drawn objections from S enate Mi-

nority Leader Mitch McConnell

(R-Ky.), among others, and Scott

on Friday fired off an op-ed in the

Wall Street Journal criticizing

“Beltway cowardice” over govern-

ment s pending.

Earlier in the week, a wider

array of Republicans issued the

first warnings against the omni-

bus, telling Democrats they may

not be able to support a spending

deal that provides billions of dol-

lars i n fresh coronavirus aid.

The Biden administration has

said it needs more than $22 b illion

to prepare for future waves of the

pandemic.

GOP senators threaten

to slow funding efforts

BY TODD C. FRANKEL

AND MIKE DEBONIS

Ukrainian President Volod-
ymyr Zelensky appealed directly
to U. S. lawmakers Saturday to ask
for additional help in fending off
Russia’s invasion, including by
helping him secure more Soviet-
era fighter jets to counter Russian
air raids.
During a call over Zoom attend-
ed by more than 28 0 members of
the U. S. Senate and House, Zel-
ensky described “the u rgent need”
for more military support and hu-
manitarian aid, as well as for a
worldwide ban on the purchase of
Russian oil, according to state-
ments and people on the call who
spoke on the condition of anonym-
ity because the meeting was pri-
vate.
The call came after the Biden
administration on Thursday re-
quested $ 10 billion in aid for
Ukraine, a move that appears to
have bipartisan support but could
get mired in other funding fights.
Zelensky stopped short of using
the words “no-fly zone,” according
to those on the call, instead press-
ing on the urgency of “control of
the skies” to combat the Russian
bombardment.
The message was “close the
skies or give us planes,” Sen. Ben
Sasse (R-Neb.) said in a statement
after the call, which lasted just
under an hour.
A no-fly zone in Ukraine en-
forced by NATO warplanes is
widely regarded as a risky escala-
tion, and Russian President Vladi-
mir Putin warned Saturday that
such a step would be regarded as
an a ct o f war.
Secretary of State Antony
Blinken and NATO Secretary G en-
eral Jens Stoltenberg last week
again ruled out sending NATO
planes into Ukrainian airspace to
shoot down Russian jets.
Facing this well-known reluc-
tance, Zelensky asked U. S. law-
makers for help with another way
to limit the damage from Russia’s
devastating aerial raids: more
planes for Ukraine.
“His main ask was f or the U. S. to
allow Poland and Romania to
transfer Soviet era jets to
#Ukraine, and for the U.S. to com-
pensate by giving more advanced
planes to those two NATO allies,”
Rep. B rad Sherman (D-Calif.) s aid
in a Twitter post.
Senate Majority Leader Charles
E. S chumer (D-N.Y.) said i n a state-
ment t hat he would help the B iden
administration with granting
what he called Z elensky’s “desper-
ate plea” for Eastern European
countries to provide Russian-
made p lanes.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)
in a tweet called on NATO to “im-
mediately facilitate the transfer of
fighter aircraft from Poland, Ro-
mania, and Slovakia to Ukraine.”
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) also

wrote on Twitter that the United

States a nd NATO should back Z el-

ensky’s ask for jets.

At one point, Senate Minority

Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

asked about missiles, in an appar-

ent reference to the Stinger

ground-to-air weapons that the

United States is continuing t o sup-

ply to Ukraine, according to two

people o n the c all.

Zelensky quickly retorted that

missiles were not enough;

Ukraine needs planes, he said.

The Ukrainian air force uses

mostly old Soviet-era jets, includ-

ing the MiG-29 fighter, and former

Warsaw Pact s tates that have since

joined NATO, such as Poland and

Romania, operate similar models

that Ukrainian pilots could fly

without much a dditional t raining.

But supplying Ukraine with

fighter jets, even those with out-

dated technology, would repre-

sent a major step up from the

military s upport c urrently coming

from the U nited States and NATO,

which has involved mostly provid-

ing small arms and portable mis-

sile systems.

It would also leave the donor

countries with gaps in their own

air defenses, which could necessi-

tate NATO allies backfilling those

forces with costly modern j ets that

would require significant pilot re-

training.

Members of Congress will be

motivated to support Zelensky’s

calls to action when they r eturn t o

Washington on Monday, Rep. Jim

Himes (D-Conn.) said in an inter-

view Saturday on “The Situation

Room With Wolf B litzer” on C NN.

“I imagine there’s any number

of things we can do to turn up the

pressure further on Russia,”

Himes said. “I imagine the ques-

tion o f freeing up the bureaucracy

to allow those Eastern European

countries that have the p lanes t hat

Zelensky’s pilots can fly will be

first on the agenda.”

Zelensky spoke to the lawmak-

ers from a desk and chair in a

well-lit room, with the blue and

yellow Ukrainian flag behind him

— a change from some recent in-

terviews in which the president

appeared to be in a dark under-

ground b unker.

But the security threats re-

mained, and Ukraine’s ambassa-

dor asked the U.S. lawmakers not

to share details of the meeting on

social media until it was over, ac-

cording to a Twitter post after the

meeting from Rep. Dean Phillips

(D-Minn.). Phillips slammed two

senators — Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) — for

sharing screenshots of the Zoom

call while i t was s till going o n.

Rubio spokesman Dan Holler

said in a statement that the sena-

tor’s Twitter post contained “no

identifying information” and dis-

missed anyone c alling it a security

concern as “a partisan seeking

clicks.”

Zelensky also emphasized that

cutting off purchases of Russian

oil and gas worldwide could be a

sanction “even more powerful

than SWIFT,” according to a Twit-

ter post from Sen. Dan Sullivan

(R-Alaska). Zelensky was refer-

ring to the critical interbank fi-

nancial messaging system from

which R ussia w as banned a fter the

invasion.

Zelensky said such a ban was

essential, people on the call said,

as he made a case for isolating the

Russian economy a s thoroughly as

possible, including shutting d own

the Visa and Mastercard payment

networks there. Late Saturday,

both companies said they would

suspend operations in Russia.

“He pushed quite forcefully for

an absolute, complete boycott,”

said Rep. Daniel Kildee (D-Mich.).

“He was forceful and quite effec-

tive.”

Ending U. S. purchases of Rus-

sian oil and gas appears to have

growing bipartisan support — but

it also threatens to cause more

chaos in e nergy markets.

While Russian crude makes up

only a fraction of the U. S. oil mar-

ket, the move could cause prices at

the pump to spike further. Al-

ready, U. S. gas prices are rising at

the fastest pace on record, accord-

ing to AAA. The average price of a

gallon of unleaded gasoline stood

at $ 3.84 on Friday.

The White House l ast week said

the United States and other na-

tions would tap their strategic re-

serves to hold d own o il p rices.

As for Zelensky’s requests for

military and humanitarian aid,

Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) said

lawmakers should approve them

quickly.

“We must provide the Ukraini-

an people with the support they

need in the face of this illegal

invasion,” Quigley said.

Zelensky said at end of the

meeting, “We are all one big army

now. T he Ukrainian people are the

embodiment of unity for democra-

cy for the whole world now,” ac-

cording to a Twitter post from Rep.

Andy L evin (D-Mich.).

Ukrainian officials have found a

receptive audience in U.S. law-

makers s ince the Russian attack.

In a demonstration of congres-

sional s upport for Ukraine, its a m-

bassador to the United S tates, Ok-

sana Markarova, attended Presi-

dent Biden’s State of the Union

address Tuesday and received a

standing ovation when the presi-

dent pointed her o ut.

Ukrainian parliament member

Oleksandra Ustinova also met

with U. S. senators Tuesday to push

for more sanctions immediately if

Ukraine is to resist Russian at-

tacks.

Dan Lamothe and Pradnya Joshi

contributed to this report.

Zelensky appeals to U.S. lawmakers for aid

MICHAL CIZEK/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Protesters listen to a speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that was screened during a

demonstration against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Wenceslas Square in Prague on Friday.

On Zoom with hundreds

in Congress, he presses

for s upport in air war

“[Zelensky] pushed

quite forcefully for an

absolute, complete

boycott.”

Rep. Daniel Kildee (D-Mich.)

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