House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has told Democrat President Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to pound sand and rejected a request by the Ukrainian president to speak to the American people in a joint session of Congress.
McCarthy said: โZelensky asked for a joint session.
“We just didnโt have time.
“Heโs already given a joint session.
“So what weโre doing for Zelensky is exactly the same thing we did for the prime minister of the UK, the prime minister of Italy.โ
He said the message he would give to Zelensky is:
โSit down and walk through the questions.
“What is the plan for victory?
“Where are we currently on the field?
โThe accountability issues that a lot of members have questions, just walk through that.โ
According to Punchbowl News, funding for Zelensky is not guaranteed:
Senate GOP Ukraine skeptics emerged from the briefing even more determined to block future funding for the war effort.
โIf there is a path toward something that can be called a victory here, I didnโt hear it,โ Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) said afterward.
โIโm frankly tired of them actively misleading us about Ukraine.โ
Hawley, among the GOPโs most vocal opponents of Ukraine aid, said the Biden administration briefers told senators that funding requests will continue even beyond the current $24 billion ask from the White House.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who has traveled to Ukraine several times since the war began, took aim at Hawleyโs assessment after the briefing.
Graham said Western allies have โmatchedโ what the United States has done.
Graham said he pressed the administration officials to seek enough Ukraine funding to last through the 2024 elections.
โIf you were in that briefing and you came away believing that what we do in Ukraine doesnโt affect our national security interest in the world, you literally had your ears closed,โ Graham said.
โThose who suggest that we should pull the plug on Ukraine โ I will make sure, to my dying day, you own that decision.โ
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