President Joe Biden is considering a supplemental request of approximately $100 billion that would include defense assistance for Israel and Ukraine alongside border security funding and aid to nations in the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan, according to people familiar with the matter.
The comprehensive package seeks to leverage broad bipartisan support for Israel in the wake of the attack earlier this month by Hamas, which the US and EU have designated a terrorist organization, to help ease passage of aid for Ukraine, which has struggled to earn the favor of House Republicans.
The inclusion of border security funding may also help garner support from Republicans who have long linked additional foreign assistance to addressing an influx of migrants in the US.
A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget declined to comment. A person familiar with the administration’s effort to coordinate the request said that details of the package were still being worked out and stressed that the amount would cover an entire fiscal year. The previous request from the White House — which included $24 billion in Ukraine assistance — covered only a three-month period.
But the sheer scope of the ask is likely to face resistance in the House, where Republican differences on spending cuts and foreign aid have played out over an extended battle to replace former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Representative Jim Jordan, the leading candidate to be the next speaker, has been a skeptic of new Ukraine aid and conservatives in the House have demanded that an Israel package not be tied to further assistance for Kyiv. Jordan in recent days has given conflicting signals on Ukraine, including suggesting that additional aid would have to be tied to increased oversight.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday said he expected the administration to send the request by “the end of this week” and that it would include military, diplomatic, intelligence, and humanitarian aid for Israel.
“We’d like to get the supplemental package moved as quickly as possible because the needs are great in both Israel and Ukraine,” he said.
--With assistance from Zach C. Cohen.
