Ukraine Aid Package Boosted to $14 Billion

Ukraine Aid Package Grows to $14 Billion as Congress Scrambles on Spending Bill

Government funding expires at the end of the day on Friday. With the deadline rapidly approaching, congressional negotiators and staff reportedly spent Monday night and Tuesday trying to finalize a sweeping $1.5 trillion spending package covering the rest of this fiscal year along with an emergency aid package for Ukraine and additional pandemic funding.

The Ukraine aid package has grown to a reported $13.6 billion, up from an initial White House request for $6.4 billion and a later request for $10 billion. "The money is expected to boost key programs at the Pentagon, State Department and other agencies, so that they can better deliver military assistance, help defend against cyberattacks, respond to food insecurity in the region and shore up other NATO allies in the face of any further Russian aggression," The Washington Post’s Tony Romm reports.

The Covid-19 funding, meanwhile, has been scaled back to $15 billion, about half what the Biden administration initially said would be needed and a third less than the $22.5 billion the administration later requested. The funding has shrunk as Republicans questioned the need for additional pandemic spending and demanded better accounting for the trillions of dollars already approved for public health and other coronavirus relief efforts. The additional funding reportedly may be repurposed from pandemic relief funds approved for cities and states as Republicans have insisted that any new spending be fully offset.

Congressional leaders reportedly still hope to unveil the legislative text of the spending package on Tuesday, giving lawmakers hours to review the massive package ahead of a planned Wednesday vote in the House. "We’re almost done. We’re going to vote tomorrow," House Appropriation Chair Rosa DeLauro told reporters said. "It’s not going to get delayed. We’re going to vote tomorrow."

Lawmakers also look to punish Russia: The race to pass the massive spending package comes as the House is also set to vote on a related bipartisan bill to further crack down on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. That legislation would ban the import of Russian energy, enable the Biden administration to impose additional sanctions and tariffs on Russia and seek to expel Moscow from the World Trade Organization.

In a letter to colleagues, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the legislation would further isolate and weaken Russia while also representing a show of support for President Biden’s efforts to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable for "his premeditated, unprovoked war against Ukraine."

Republican lawmakers also expressed support for the bill, which would also have to pass the Senate. "I think there’s more at stake than just the cost of gasoline," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), according to The Washington Post. "I think it’s an important message to send, so despite the president’s actions, I would like to see Congress pass a law."

What’s next: Time to pass the omnibus is running short given that House Democrats are schedules to leave town Wednesday afternoon for their annual policy retreat in Philadelphia. "Hopefully the House sends it to us tomorrow," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said Tuesday. "We can then move it and certainly pass it before the midnight Friday deadline."

House lawmakers sounded confident Tuesday that they’d be able to get it done, though House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) reportedly warned his members Tuesday that they may need to come back on Friday if the Senate were to make changes to the package or run into delays that required a stopgap bill to prevent a government shutdown. Senate Republicans have threatened to block speedy consideration of the omnibus, demanding votes on a proposal to defund the Biden vaccine mandates and a more detailed fiscal analysis of the spending package.

The bottom line: Lawmakers broadly expect to meet their deadline. Democratic leaders signaled that more funding would likely still be needed for both Ukraine and the pandemic

Quote of the Day: Biden Bans Russian Oil Imports

"This is a step that we’re taking to inflict further pain on Putin. But there will be costs as well here in the United States. I said I would level with the American people from the beginning. And when I first spoke to this, I said defending freedom is going to cost -- it’s going to cost us as well, in the United States. Republicans and Democrats alike understand that. Republicans and Democrats alike have been clear that we must do this."

− President Biden, announcing an executive order to ban the importing of Russian oil, liquefied natural gas and coal.

Biden had been hesitant to block energy imports from Russia, mindful of the economic reverberations the move could have — and, perhaps, the political pain that could accompany record gas prices — but made the decision to do so after facing bipartisan pressure from lawmakers and consulting with U.S. allies. Biden said that some European allies, which are more dependent on Russian energy, may not follow suit. The European Union said it planned to cut imports of Russian natural gas by two-thirds.

Biden blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for rising U.S. gas prices. "I’m going to do everything I can to minimize Putin’s price hike here at home," he said.

A new Wall Street Journal poll found that 79% of Americans said they favor a ban on Russian oil imports even if it means higher energy prices.

The federal budget deficit totaled $475 billion in the first five months of the 2022 fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday in its monthly budget review.

Total receipts between the beginning of the fiscal year in October 2021 and February 2022 came to $1.8 trillion, CBO estimated, while total outlays came to nearly $2.3 trillion.

Receipts are up by $371 billion this year compared to the same period last year, driven in large part by higher individual income and payroll taxes, which rose by $313 billion. Corporate tax receipts were also higher, by $28 billion, as were customs duties and excise taxes. Total outlays are down by $201 billion on a year-over-year basis, driven in part by a $139 billion decrease in unemployment compensation.

Spending on servicing the debt increased by $31 billion, or 22%, as the Treasury paid more in interest on inflation-protected securities.

Overall, the deficit so far this year is considerably smaller than the one recorded in the pandemic-scarred years of 2020 and 2021. Last year, the deficit was a bit over $1 trillion in the first five months of the fiscal year, or about twice as large, while in 2020 the deficit came to $624 billion by this point.

Pelosi Takes Aim at Rick Scott’s Tax Plan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Tuesday highlighted a new analysis that shows that a proposal by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida to have all Americans pay at least some federal income tax would end up raising taxes on more than half of all households.

"In every state across the country the hardest working families would shoulder huge tax increases – but more than 40 percent of taxpayers living and working in Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina and Florida would see their tax bills skyrocket," Pelosi said in a statement.

The analysis of Scott’s proposal was done by the liberal-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, which looked at the effects of the plan on taxpayers in each state. Crucially, the analysis assumes that, under Scott’s plan, low-income taxpayers would lose the refundable tax credits provided by programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Child Tax Credit, up to the point where they have some tax liability. This isn’t spelled out in Scott’s plan, which provides virtually no details, but ITEP’s Steve Wamhoff says it follows from the proposal. "The only possible interpretation of Sen. Scott’s proposal is that everyone who has negative federal income tax liability under current law would instead have federal income tax liability of at least $1," he writes.

Under that assumption, ITEP found that individual tax bills would rise by more than $1,000 on average for the poorest 40% of Americans, once the value of lost tax credits is taken into account.

Scott has said that his proposal would not apply to seniors or those who are not "able bodied," but those clarifications left it unclear how the plan would have all Americans have some "skin in the game," as the senator’s plan put it.

Pelosi said the think tank’s analysis shows the sharp contrast between the parties on fiscal policy: "While Republicans plan to squeeze America’s hardest-working families with higher tax hikes and try to rip away their health care, Democrats are still hard at work to pass legislation to further lower everyday prices, fight inflation and cut taxes for middle-class families, paid for by finally making giant corporations and the wealthiest pay their fair share."

For their part, Republicans have distanced themselves from Scott’s proposal. Although the Florida Republican defended his plan in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) bashed the proposal, saying that while he does not plan to release a GOP agenda, under no conditions would Republicans support a tax hike.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-FL) said Monday that while he agrees with "most of" Scott’s proposed agenda, he recognized that some things would have to change — presumably including the idea of raising taxes on millions of low-income households. At the same time, Johnson said Republicans need to make it clear what they plan to do if they win power in the coming elections. Johnson’s idea is a bit of a throwback to the glory years of the Trump presidency: "For example, if we’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare — I still think we need to fix our health-care system — we need to have the plan ahead of time so that once we get in office, we can implement it immediately, not knock around like we did last time and fail," Johnson said.

• U.S. to Ban Oil Imports From Russia as White House Explores Drastic Plans to Buffer Economy From Energy Shock – Washington Post
• Ukraine Aid Package Grows to $14 Billion as Congress Rushes Legislation Tied to Russia’s Invasion – Washington Post
• Biden Warns of Higher Pump Prices as He Bans Russian Energy – Roll Call
• U.S. Gas Prices Hit a High: $4.17 a Gallon – New York Times
• Biden Defends Energy Policies Amid GOP Attacks – The Hill
• Senators Push to Expand Food Aid for Low-Income Troops – Roll Call
• In Historic Crisis, 2 Million People Have Fled Ukraine Since the Start of Russian Invasion, U.N. Says – Washington Post
• Fraud Investigation in Food Aid Puts Focus on Role of Nonprofits – New York Times
• For-Profit Hospitals Skip Less Profitable Services – Axios
• Sen. Ron Johnson Says Obamacare Should Be Repealed if GOP Wins Power Back – Washington Post
• House Democrats Take Aim at Corporate Greed During Inflation Hearing – The Hill
• Still Struggling Motor Coach Industry Seeks More Federal Aid – Roll Call
• Biden Administration Makes Case to Save Vaccination Mandate for Federal Employees – Politico