Two bills to aid Ukraine – Democrats’ vs Republicans’, Biden’s vs Trump’s & Johnson’s

For the last six months, public attention has been drawn to two versions of a Ukraine aid bill. One was prepared by the Biden administration and Democrats, the other by Speaker of the House Johnson and Republicans.

It was the Republican version of the bill (or more precisely, legislative package) that was passed by the House of Representatives on April 20, by the Senate on April 23, and signed by President Biden on April 24.

It is worth comparing the two bills.

Two bills to help Ukraine

In all aspects the second version of the bill is significantly better for the United States, Ukraine, Israel, and for the peaceful residents of Gaza.

It should be especially noted that the preparation of the Johnson’s bill took almost three times less time than the preparation of the version of the bill done by the Biden administration and the Democrats.

For months, White House has argued that the House vote prevented the administration from delivering needed military aid to Ukraine.

But Republicans did not delay the supply of military assistance to Ukraine. Its provision could and should have been carried out without any obstacles, since all the necessary legal powers and material resources were available for the Biden administration the entire time.

Despite this, the Biden administration blocked military aid to Ukraine from December 27, 2023, to April 24, 2024 (with the exception of a small aid package announced on March 12, 2024). The administration had legal authority to supply arms in the amount of $4.2 billion via the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) and over $6 billion dollars to replace the weapons through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).

Since Congress passed the Ukraine Assistance Act last month, the administration’s stance on limiting military assistance to Ukraine has not changed. Total U.S. military aid supplies in the first almost full five months of 2024 amount to $1.3 billion via the PDA channel mean that average monthly deliveries turned out to be only $362 million, which is 28% less than the $500 million monthly military supplies to Ukraine in September-December 2023 and 63% less than almost $1 billion monthly aid from February 2022 till August 2023.

The Ukraine Assistance Act means the Biden administration has no basis to blame Republicans, yet the delays, restrictions, and blockages of military aid supplies to Ukraine continue.

Sources for chart:

National Security Act, 2024
https://www.congress.gov/amendment/118th-congress/senate-amendment/1388/text
Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8035/text?format=txt
21st Century Peace through Strength Act
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/8038/text
Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2024
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/f/?id=0000018e-f2d8-d1c7-a3ef-fadcfa410000