Nancy Mace says White House has ‘yet to define mission’ in Ukraine

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said the White House has “yet to define [its] mission” in Ukraine as lawmakers struggle to agree on more support for the country.

House Republicans have held up aid for Ukraine by tying additional funding to stricter border security provisions. Mace said on “Fox News Sunday” that she wants the United States to focus on border security before doling out more aid to Ukraine, which just marked its two-year anniversary of fighting Russia.

“The one thing that you did not hear Jake Sullivan or Joe Biden say today or really ever is defining our mission in Ukraine. They have yet to define that mission. They have yet to set the strategy. And they have yet to articulate how [we are] going to get out of this situation when every dollar we have is given to their country, and it is or is not successful. How do we get out of this?” she said Sunday.

“And you haven’t heard that defined to the American people. You certainly haven’t heard that defined to Congress. If we had the answer, we’d be talking about it, and perhaps there’d be more support for it,” Mace added.

Senate negotiators unveiled a bipartisan border security deal earlier this month that included aid for Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific allies, but the effort failed after Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declared it dead on arrival in the House.

The Senate later passed a bill that would authorize funding for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies, but Johnson also rejected that legislation due to the lack of border security provisions. The White House and Democratic leadership have called on Johnson to bring Ukraine aid to the floor, pointing to the bipartisan support it had in the Senate.

Mace in her Sunday interview continued to emphasize the need for border security before passing any aid for Ukraine.

“But the last thing I want to say is that this administration is putting the borders of other nations first rather than our own. Before anything else happens with Ukraine and U.S. funding for Ukraine, I want to know … what we are doing about invasion and our national security at our southern border. That should be the No. 1 priority of Joe Biden and this administration, full stop,” she said.

When reached for comment, the White House pointed The Hill to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s remarks on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said that he, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have briefed Johnson and other members of Congress on the administration’s strategy for Ukraine.

“So I’ve personally gone up and briefed the Speaker and other members. Secretary Austin, Secretary Blinken, our intelligence community have all gone up. We’ve laid out, in writing, how we look at the strategy for Ukraine to prevail and for Russia to fail in this,” he said.

“We’ve gotten good feedback from the House on that. I don’t think the question, at this point, is about the strategy. And I don’t think the question is about whether there is an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the House waiting to happen,” he added, saying that the question is now “about politics.”

Updated 3:19 p.m.