What does speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ousting mean for US aid to Ukraine?

beijingwalker · Oct 4, 2023

What does speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ousting mean for US aid to Ukraine?

Joe Biden said this week he expected the speaker to keep a commitment to secure support needed for Ukraine, but with McCarthy ousted, the outlook is less clear

Wed 4 Oct 2023 03.36 BST

The historic ousting of House speaker Kevin McCarthy adds further uncertainty to the outlook for US aid to Ukraine, after support for Kyiv was excluded from the recent US government funding bill, leaving Joe Biden to rely on the Republican speaker for a separate deal.

The president said at the weekend that US support for Ukraine could not be interrupted “under any circumstances” and that he fully expected McCarthy “to keep his commitment to secure the passage and support needed to help Ukraine as they defend themselves against aggression and brutality”.

The need to shore up support for Kyiv has become more pressing, with Adm Rob Bauer, Nato’s most senior military official, saying on Tuesday “the bottom of the barrel is now visible”, with Ukraine said to be firing thousands of shells – many of which come from Nato – every day.

The White House said on Tuesday it was confident the US would ultimately provide more assistance for Ukraine, no matter the fate of McCarthy’s speakership, but with McCarthy out, attention has now turned to the views of his potential successors.

A Ukraine “report card” by political group Defending Democracy Together’ rated the leading candidates from A to F on the strength of their past support for Ukraine aid, with A signifying the strongest support.

Representative Steve Scalise, the No 2 House Republican, has long been favoured to take over as speaker after McCarthy, and received a B, a step up from McCarthy’s B-minus grade. However, hard-right Republican Matt Gaetz, who led the push to oust McCarthy and has said he would support Scalise, received an F.

House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan and hardline rising star Representative Byron Donalds also received Fs.

Representative Tom Emmer, the House Republican whip, got the highest rating, an A.

Washington has sent the Kyiv government $113bn in security, economic and humanitarian aid since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Leaders in the Senate, which is narrowly controlled by the Democrats, have promised to take up legislation in the coming weeks to ensure continued US security and economic support for Ukraine.

Biden convened a call with the leaders of allied countries, the EU and the Nato military alliance on Tuesday about continuing coordinated support for Ukraine, amid concerns that support for Kyiv’s war effort against Russia was fading.

McCarthy early this week denied accusations by Gaetz that he had cut “a secret deal” with Biden to allow the House to vote on Ukraine aid. McCarthy said then he wanted more information from the Biden administration.

In July, Biden asked Congress to approve another $24bn related to Ukraine, which Ukraine supporters – Republicans as well as Democrats – had hoped could become law as part of a spending bill.