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Leading Democrats and Republicans are unanimous in thinking that the United States should provide more military and financial assistance for Ukraine, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday after a closed-door briefing on the state of the Russia-Ukraine war. “The briefing made it so clear that we need to continue significant aid to Ukraine,” he told reporters.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney gave a big shout out to the Biden Administration Friday, posting a video in which he claims that sending billions in taxpayer dollars to Ukraine is “the best national defense spending I think we’ve ever done.”While the economy at home is dismal, Romney claimed that a “very small amount” of money that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine, more than $200 billion and counting, is benefitting all Americans.WAR MONGERS GONNA WAR MONGER — Oh Bette 😈 (@bette_oh) August 26, 2023“The single most important thing we can do to strengthen ourselves relative to China is to see...

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Wednesday that there is still bipartisan support for more Ukraine aid despite Republicans’ increasing reluctance to provide it. Sullivan said in a briefing that there are “strong” Republican voices, especially those in “key leadership positions” that still support more aid to Ukraine.

Days after the wildfire that destroyed Lahaina, those staying nearby say private volunteers have served as far more of a lifeline than federal and local agencies. Days after the deadliest American wildfire in more than a century ignited in West Maui, killing dozens and leveling more than 2,200 buildings, increasingly frustrated residents said that they were receiving far more help from an ad hoc network of volunteers than they were from the government.

The U.S. on Monday announced a $200 million security assistance package for Ukraine, providing Kyiv with another round of munitions and tactical vehicles for use in the fight against Russia. The latest package places total U.S. security assistance to Ukraine at roughly $43 billion since Russia invaded in February 2022, meaning the remaining funds for Ukrainian forces is fast approaching their limit. The Biden administration unveiled the critical assistance for Ukraine in the midst of a major counteroffensive operation. The package includes more munitions for advanced weapons systems coveted by Ukraine, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Patriot...

President Joe Biden will ask for $25 billion in aid for Ukraine, according to multiple reports. Multiple reports found Biden is expected to unveil a Ukraine aid package request north of $25 billion, which would include $13 billion in military assistance and $12 billion for disaster relief. This aid request would set up a battle between many Republicans that are increasingly skeptical about providing aid and defense hawks who wish to continue funding Ukraine’s seemingly endless conflict with Russia.

The Weather Channel is promoting the open-ended claim migrants should be allowed to enter the United States if their homelands are damaged by “extreme weather” — and President Joe Biden is eager to say yes. “Is it the responsibility of the United States to protect migrants who might be fleeing extreme weather in their countries?” meteorologist Stephanie Abrams asked Biden during a very rare and softball interview beside the Grand Canyon. Biden replied in the August 9 broadcast: Look, I think the United States should do everything it can to help people who are in desperate need and have no...

Remember the heartbreaking stories, as shameless Joe Biden inexplicably withdrew all remaining U.S. forces from Afghanistan in the worst and most embarrassing United States military departure from a foreign country since the fall of Saigon in 1975? Of course, you do.The last US military planes left Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. Following that flight, Taliban soldiers entered the airport and declared victory.As my colleague Streiff reported on September 3, 2021, “By any conceivable measure, the US evacuation was a disgrace.” Streiff added:We know that thousands of Afghans holding special immigration visas (SIV) were left behind. We know hundreds, if not...

55% say the US Congress should not authorize additional funding to support Ukraine vs. 45% who say Congress should authorize such funding.

President Joe Biden will soon ask Congress for a Ukraine aid package that could exceed $10 billion, a report released Tuesday found. Punchbowl News reported the Ukraine aid battle will resume when Congress returns from recess. The incoming request, which could be “north of $10 billion,” follows as Ukraine continues its slow-moving counteroffensive against Russia, and America and other NATO countries have pledged support for Ukraine. The Army’s acquisition chief told reporters on Monday that the Department of Defense was working on a funding package for lawmakers to consider. The package would be used to replenish American weapon stockpiles which...

People living with HIV are not more likely to be hospitalized with severe mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) unless they have advanced immune suppression, underscoring the importance of prompt antiretroviral treatment, according to study findings presented at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (#IAS2023). To that end, experts recommend that people who present for mpox vaccination, testing or treatment should be tested for HIV if they do not already know their status and linked to care if they are not on antiretroviral therapy. “For individuals with unknown HIV status, mpox testing can be an opportunity for HIV testing,...

KYIV, July 28 – Qatar will provide Ukraine with $100 million in humanitarian aid to support health, education and demining, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Friday. He made the announcement after talks with visiting Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who also discussed global food security and the expired Black Sea grain deal with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Senate Democrats banded together Wednesday night to oppose the creation of a new office to audit US military assistance for Ukraine as part of a provision in the annual defense spending bill. Forty-five Democrats — including every member of the Senate Armed Services Committee — voted down an amendment to establish an Office of the Lead Inspector General for Ukraine Assistance as part of the fiscal year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also joined the Democrats in rejecting the new oversight office.

Kiel Institute support tracker from downloaded data XLS file. All aid to Ukraine cumulative from 2/22/2022 to 5/31/2023 Country $billion %GDP Australia 0.46 0.03 Austria 2.04 0.43 Belgium 1.90 0.32 Bulgaria 0.48 0.57 Canada 5.73 0.29 Croatia 0.36 0.53 Cyprus 0.06 0.22 Czech Republic 1.57 0.56 Denmark 3.01 0.76 Estonia 0.54 1.46 EU (Commission and Council) 29.84 0.17 Finland 1.97 0.66 France 8.11 0.27 Germany 19.58 0.46 Greece 0.74 0.34 Hungary 0.48 0.27 Iceland 0.03 0.13 Ireland 0.84 0.17 Italy 6.28 0.30 Japan 7.19 0.15 Latvia 0.51 1.28 Lithuania 0.76 1.14 Luxembourg 0.22 0.26 Malta 0.03 0.19 Netherlands 7.24 0.71...

OceanGate Expeditions, the company behind the Titan submersible disaster, was forgiven of its $450,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan, according to the ProPublica PPP Loan Database. OceanGate builds submersibles for tourism and research, but its inherently risky business model raises questions, and led to the tragic deaths of five people in the ocean in June. Its liability waiver for sub tourism mentioned the possibility of death three times on the first page alone. Now, some are accusing the company of cutting corners. James Cameron, the renowned Titanic explorer and director of the 1997 movie, said, "I was very suspect of the...

Though many Americans likely believe that US dollars allocated for Ukraine are spent directly on supplies for the war effort, the lead author of this report, Heather Kaiser, conducted a thorough review of Washington’s budget for the 2022 and 2023 fiscal year and discovered that is far from the case.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $200 billion may have been stolen from two large COVID-19 relief initiatives, according to new estimates from a federal watchdog investigating federally funded programs that helped small businesses survive the worst public health crisis in more than a hundred years. The numbers issued Tuesday by the U.S. Small Business Administration inspector general are much greater than the office’s previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the Paycheck Protection and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.

AFP — African countries are casting a worried eye as the West pumps aid into Ukraine, sensing a retreat in pledges to help their development and fight climate change. According to the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), assistance for Ukraine in 2022 shot up to $16 billion, compared to less than a billion a year earlier, while that for Africa fell by eight percent to $29 billion. Supporters of Ukraine say the help is vital for shoring up a country whose collapse would send shockwaves across Europe and beyond. Ukraine’s economy contracted by almost a third last...

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Monday a Senate Republican package to provide additional Ukraine aid in supplemental spending is not “going anywhere” in the House. McCarthy signaled to Punchbowl News that any additional aid for Ukraine’s protracted conflict with Russia would have to come from the annual appropriations process as part of the Pentagon’s $866 billion in discretionary spending, which was agreed to in the debt ceiling deal, otherwise known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

The $48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December has about $6 billion left, meaning U.S. funding for weapons and supplies could dry up by midsummer. That’s raising fresh concerns among lawmakers about what the White House is planning next, including when the administration will ask for another major package and whether it will be enough.Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a senior appropriator, indicated the appropriations process would likely be the next time Congress would provide funding unless the situation changed substantially on the ground.“I think you'll see it in appropriations,” Murkowski said in an interview. “It's not making...