Rubio says Biden holding Florida ‘hostage’ by lumping disaster relief with Ukraine aid
David Sivak
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Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is asking Congress not to tie disaster relief to further aid for Ukraine as Washington weighs $40 billion in emergency spending that President Joe Biden requested on Thursday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster fund could run out of money as soon as August, injecting a sense of urgency to replenish the funds ahead of peak hurricane season. The Biden administration requested $12 billion for the agency, to be voted on as part of a stop-gap bill to fund the government past Sept. 30. But its decision to include $24 billion in additional Ukraine aid in the request has rankled conservatives skeptical of what they say has been a “blank check” for the war-torn country.
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The disaster relief could make the spending package more palatable, and increase pressure on lawmakers to pass a continuing resolution with the Ukraine aid.
Rubio, who represents Florida, a major recipient of disaster assistance, denounced the move as a “cynical political manipulation” and called on Congress to consider the disaster relief separately.
“President Biden is holding Floridians, and other Americans, hostage by tying critical domestic disaster relief to foreign military aid,” he said on Thursday evening. “While the Biden administration works with my colleagues in the House on what can actually pass, I urge prompt consideration of legislation to replenish the Disaster Relief Fund.”
Washington has committed more than $110 billion to counter Russia’s war in Ukraine with overwhelming bipartisan support. But defense hawks are increasingly having to contend with a crop of conservatives calling for more oversight of the funds, saying the sheer scale of aid opens it up to fraud and waste.
The Ukraine spending has the support of leadership in the Senate, but Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) views the aid more skeptically, reflecting the views of his right flank in a chamber he narrowly controls.
Rubio, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, came out strongly in favor of Ukraine assistance in the days after Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February of last year. But he has since joined the chorus of conservatives calling for more oversight. He has asked the Biden administration for a national strategy for the war effort.
“President Biden owes Americans an explanation of his strategy, something he’s refused to do since Putin invaded Ukraine,” he said. “We’ve seen incredible bravery by the Ukrainians over the last 18 months, but we’ve also seen U.S. stockpiles dwindle, European countries slow walk critical supplies, and China grows more aggressive towards the U.S. and our national interests. We cannot give a blank check to continue the status quo.”
The demands are part of a larger shift in rhetoric for Rubio, who has largely embraced the populist views of former President Donald Trump. Rubio is far from an isolationist, however — he’s among the strongest China hawks in the Senate.
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The Senate appears to be warming to the idea of further oversight of Ukraine aid. Fifty senators voted for the creation of an office to oversee the funds, but the measure, considered as part of Congress’s annual defense bill in July, fell short of the 60 votes needed to pass.
Ukraine aid is not the only money complicating the stopgap spending bill. Though the administration included $4 billion in border-related funding in its supplemental request, House conservatives are demanding additional enforcement measures to stem the flow of migrants at the southern border.