Capito: Ukraine funding may need to be separate
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CHARLESTON -- U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito supports a supplemental appropriations package that could include border security and funding for Israel and Ukraine, but acknowledged that Ukraine funding may need to be done separately to get Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on board.
Capito, R-W.Va., spoke to West Virginia reporters Thursday afternoon during a regular virtual briefing from her offices in the Russell Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.
President Joe Biden has presented Congress a $105 billion supplemental appropriations request, which includes aid for Israel after terrorist group Hamas attacked the country last month, continued aid for Ukraine as it continues to fight Russia's invasion of the country in 2022, and additional funding for the Pacific as China continues to expand in the region.
"I believe we need to stand strong with Israel, and I believe we need to keep pushing that," Capito said. "We need to keep supporting Ukraine, who is pushing (Russian President Vladamir) Putin back. I think that they've been having some success and are holding their own much more than anybody ever thought."
The package also includes funding for security at the southern border with Mexico. Capito, a Republican member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she questioned Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and encouraged Blinken to take border security seriously.
"I emphasized, particularly to the Secretary of State, that any request that comes forward needs to have a strong border element to it," Capito said. "We know it's overrun. It's open. We have to have policy changes. By that, I mean it can't be more money to build shelters or have processors to ... move through the process quicker. We need to make a process that actually scrutinizes who's coming and returns them back to their home country."
While there may be unity between Republicans in the Senate and House regarding the need for border funding, further aid funding for Ukraine could be a sticking point between GOP lawmakers. The House Republican Caucus plans to bring their own $14.3 billion supplemental appropriations bill to the floor that includes funding for Israel paid for from funds set aside in the Inflation Reduction Act for additional IRS employees.
Biden has already threatened to veto the House GOP supplemental appropriations bill. But Capito said she is not opposed to supporting the measure.
"I think that's an important element to look at where the House's position is," Capito said. "We've got uncontrollable debt and deficits, and this is a statement, I think, by the House that they're going to start really trying to rein in spending. And I welcome that news personally. I could vote on that bill."
Capito supports additional funding for Ukraine, but admitted Thursday that Ukraine is becoming increasingly unpopular with some Republican lawmakers in both chambers and even among constituents in West Virginia. Ukraine funding will likely have to be done in a separate bill tied to border funding, she said.
"I do think another bill would be coming from the House or from the Senate that couples the Ukrainian funding with the border policy changes," Capito said. "That is going to be the only way, I think, the Ukraine funding can make it through. And it may be that it can only make it through on a larger package."
However, Capito said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., might not be willing to separate Ukraine funding from funding for Israel, which could create a stalemate between the Senate and the House, which selected Mike Johnson, R-La., to be its new Speaker.
"I did get to meet the Speaker for the very first time (Wednesday)," Capito said. "After seeing him in person and listening to him, I can absolutely understand and see how he was elected. He's very knowledgeable. He's very friendly, obviously very well-liked, very steeped in policy, and very conservative as well. He's looking at how can he achieve and how can he bring forward a bill that shows the House's support for Israel. And I think that's what he plans to do."