The massive full-year government funding bill contains $45 billion in new emergency funds for Ukraine to help the embattled country beat back Russian forces.
We’ll share how that amount is broken down, plus an unexpected visit to Washington, D.C., by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, what the grounding of the B-2 bomber fleet means for U.S. security and a loophole that would allow a football star at West Point to defer his service and head to the NFL.
This is Defense & National Security, your nightly guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond. For The Hill, I’m Ellen Mitchell. A friend forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here or in the box below.
Final funding bill includes $45B for Ukraine
The massive full-year government funding bill released early Tuesday contains
$45 billion in new emergency funds for Ukraine in its battle against Russian forces, nearly 20 percent higher than the Biden administration requested.
The final amount, included in the year-end, must-pass omnibus bill, means Ukraine will get $8 billion more than the $37 billion President Biden asked Congress for last month.
What’s in it: Broken down, the funds include about $11.9 billion to replenish U.S. weapons stocks that have been dipped into often since Feb. 24, when Russia first attacked Ukraine and Washington poured in its own lethal equipment to bolster the besieged country.
A summary of the supplemental aid also noted that $9 billion will go to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which includes efforts to train, equip and provide intelligence support to Ukraine’s military. Another $6.98 billion will go toward U.S. European Command mission and intelligence support, pay, equipment and related activities.
What’s expected: In addition, $300 million is meant “for advanced nuclear reactors and advanced nuclear fuels” to increase Ukrainian energy security and independence as Russia continues to hit its energy infrastructure with frequent missile barrages and drone strikes.
Also included: Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) expressed disappointment on Monday afternoon that nondefense social spending programs will receive a smaller increase than defense programs but he noted that Democrats didn’t have much leverage to insist on parity.
- And $126.3 million would help to “prepare for and respond to potential nuclear and radiological incidents in Ukraine,” notable given the frequent saber rattling from Russian President Vladimir Putin over his country’s nuclear stocks.
- Another $2.47 billion would address humanitarian needs in the country,
$13.37 billion would go to economic support for Kyiv and $2.4 billion would help resettle Ukrainian arrivals and refugees into the United States.
Crossroads: The extra funding comes after the administration pressed lawmakers to pass more supplemental funding for Kyiv in the omnibus, specifically finding crossroads with House Republicans who have voiced support for the extra dollars and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has continuously championed assistance to Ukraine.
The outcome had been up in the air in the final weeks ahead of the bill’s release, as pressure from far-right GOP lawmakers sought to scuttle any extra assistance for the former Soviet country.
Still to come: The bill still must be passed by the House and Senate and signed by Biden, but should it happen by year’s end, total U.S. military, humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine will tick past more than $110 billion in 2022.
Also from The Hill:
- What made the cut in Congress’s 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion funding bill — and what didn’t
ZELENSKY PLANNING TO VISIT US CAPITOL IN PERSON
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit the U.S. Capitol in person on Wednesday, a Senate aide confirmed to The Hill.
Why it’s a big deal: It would mark the first time the Ukrainian president has left his country since before Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sent a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday encouraging them to “be present for a very special focus on Democracy Wednesday night.”
Timing: The visit comes as Zelensky, his top military officials and aides have warned that Russia is planning to renew a large-scale ground invasion, and as the country suffers under devastating aerial attacks that have destroyed its energy and electricity infrastructure entering winter.
DOD assures public after B-2 bomber fleet grounding
The Pentagon on Tuesday insisted it has “a variety of capabilities at its disposal” after the Air Force last week grounded its entire fleet of B-2 stealth bombers.
Why it matters: The aircrafts’ grounding, which came after an emergency landing and fire on Dec. 10 at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, is significant because the stealth bomber, along with the B-52 Stratofortress, makes up the air arm of the U.S. nuclear triad.
Several B-2s from the fleet, which includes fewer than 20 planes, have recently been deployed to Europe as well as the Indo-Pacific in a show of force.
A ‘variety of capabilities’: “The Department of Defense, to include the Air Force, has a variety of capabilities at its disposal, particularly when it comes to our strategic bomber fleet,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.
He pointed to the B-52 fleet, which he said provides a “redundant capability” to the B-2, adding that he’s “confident that we continue to maintain the bomber capability that we need to deter adversaries and if necessary, engage in conduct.”
Stand down: The Air Force first ordered a B-2 stand-down to inspect the entire fleet after “an in-flight malfunction during routine operations” caused an emergency landing and subsequent fire on the runway at Whiteman Air Force Base, according to a statement last week from the 509th Bomb Wing.
The incident caused the base’s runway to close and the Air Force to pull B-2s from performing flyovers at the 2023 Rose Parade and Rose Bowl Game, to be replaced by the B-1 Lancer.
Congress makes loophole for West Point football star
A last-minute compromise between lawmakers could allow a football standout at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to defer his service and head to the National Football League next year.
Final language for the massive government funding bill known as the omnibus, released early Tuesday, contains amended language that would allow service academy athletes to get a waiver to defer their active-duty service to play professional sports.
A shot at glory: This means Andre Carter II, an Army linebacker and a senior at West Point pegged as a possible first-round pick in April’s NFL draft, could have his shot at joining the league after it appeared scuttled earlier this month.
Closing the loophole: The issue stemmed from language included in the annual defense policy bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require two years of active-duty service before any such waiver could be granted.
The NDAA provision effectively closed a loophole that allowed service academy athletes to defer their five years of service to join a professional league, a rule that had been in place over the past few years.
An earlier decision: Carter had decided to join West Point and not to transfer to another school two years ago with the understanding he would have a chance at the NFL, his family and Army coach Jeff Monken told ESPN last week.
Reworked: In the omnibus, however, language stipulates that the new NDAA policy “shall only apply with respect to a cadet or midshipman who first enrolls in the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, or the United States Air Force Academy on or after June 1, 2021.”
The provision would allow Carter and others who enrolled ahead of that date to be eligible to defer their service and play professionally.
ON TAP TOMORROW
The Atlantic Council will hold a discussion on “More than war: Defining Ukraine while defying Russia,” at 10 a.m.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- Biden in newly surfaced video declares Iran talks ‘dead’
- Six ISIS officials captured in commando raids
- Zelensky makes surprise visit to besieged eastern city of Bakhmut
- Read the full 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion government funding bill released by Congress
- McConnell on Jan. 6 criminal referral of Trump: ‘Entire nation knows who is responsible for that day’
- Many Senate Republicans aren’t protecting Trump after Jan. 6 panel’s nod to criminal charges
That’s it for today. Check out The Hill’s Defense and National Security pages for the latest coverage. See you tomorrow!