McConnell: ‘Practically impossible’ to pass Ukraine funding before Christmas

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) told reporters Tuesday that it will be “practically impossible” to pass legislation providing more military aid to Ukraine before Christmas and urged President Biden to get more involved in the stalled negotiations.  

“All I have said is [it’s] practically impossible, even though we reach an agreement, to craft it, get it through the Senate, get it through the House before Christmas,” McConnell said. “Doesn’t mean it’s not important.” 

McConnell noted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has “said to a number of people” that the House is leaving town at the end of this week, which means that even if Senate negotiators strike a deal on border security, House lawmakers wouldn’t be around to consider it until January.

The GOP leader said Biden needs to get more involved in the discussions, alluding to complaints by Senate Republicans that the White House has given the lead GOP negotiator, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the run-around by continually deferring major points of the negotiation to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), the lead Senate Democratic negotiator.  

McConnell said he has told Biden directly that “the only way we’ll get an agreement is for you to be involved. Don’t just punt the ball up to Senate Democrats — they may never get there.” 

“We all know he’s the only one that can sign a bill into law,” McConnell said of Biden. “Without him, there is no deal.”

McConnell said he’s urged both Biden and White House chief of staff Jeff Zients to take a more hands-on role in the negotiation.

“I’ve talked to [Biden] about it. I’ve talked to Zients about it. [There’s] some indication last night that maybe they’re going to finally engage rather than just sending James Lankford and his team back to Senate Democrats,” he said.

“To sum it up, there won’t be a deal until Joe Biden and Republicans reach an agreement. That hasn’t happened yet. I hope that it will, because I think this whole package is important to our country and I’d like to see it pass,” he said of Biden’s $106 billion emergency foreign aid request to fund Ukraine, Israel, the Indo-Pacific region and provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.  

McConnell, however, acknowledged “it’s not going to be easy” to pass the foreign aid package if it lags until January and then gets caught up in negotiations over a long-term government funding bill.

Funding for federal departments and agencies expires Jan. 19 and Feb. 2.  

McConnell made his comments hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with senators in the Capitol to ask Congress to fund another round of military aid to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion.

Zelensky also met with Johnson on Tuesday morning and was set to hold a joint press conference with Biden after a meeting at the White House in the afternoon.