Lawmakers in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday appeared to be within hours of releasing legislation to provide billions of dollars in emergency aid to Ukraine, as well as money to fund the government through Sept. 30 and address COVID-19.
Legislation providing $1.5 trillion for defense and nondefense discretionary spending and roughly $12 billion to help Ukraine respond to Russia's invasion headed toward release after Democrats agreed to lower their COVID-19 request to around $15 billion, down from the White House's initial $22.5 billion request.
"We are almost there. We are very, very close, and hopefully it will be done in the next few hours," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said of negotiations aimed at agreeing on an omnibus spending bill to fund the federal government."Furthermore, I am pleased that we are likewise close – very close – to passing a strong and ample aid package that will help the people of Ukraine," he added.
If Democrats fail to release the legislation on Tuesday, the task of enacting it ahead of the Friday deadline would become more complicated, though not impossible, according to second source familiar with negotiations. This week's floor schedule has already been truncated by a planned Wednesday retreat for Democrats. And Republicans, who have demanded time to review the mammoth legislation before voting, could resist any attempt to act immediately after the bill's release.
Democrats hoped to use strong public support for helping Ukraine to pressure Republicans into passing the sweeping "omnibus" bill funding the government, after four bills this fiscal year that extended the previous year's funding levels temporarily.Reporting by David Morgan and Richard Cowan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis