The White House has asked Congress to approve an additional $37.7 billion in aid for Ukraine. The package includes $21.7 billion in security assistance that would flow through the Pentagon, $14.5 billion for support from the State Department and USAID, $626 million for the Department of Energy to provide nuclear security support and to modernize the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and $900 million for healthcare services.
A White House summary said the security assistance request includes $7 billion in additional presidential drawdown authority, which would enable President Biden to continue sending weapons to Ukraine directly from U.S. stocks.
Three funding packages have been enacted thus far. In March, lawmakers signed off on an initial $13.6 billion aid package that included $3.5 billion in security assistance. A massive $40 billion deal was inked in May, about half of which was for military aid. The White House originally sought $33 billion for that deal, but lawmakers increased the total. Finally, a continuing resolution signed into law before the start of the 2023 fiscal year included an extra $12.3 billion for Ukraine, including $7.5 billion in security assistance.
If approved by Congress, the latest request would increase total aid provided to Ukraine to $103.6 billion, including around $53 billion in security assistance.
The U.S. has been rapidly churning through security assistance funding provided thus far. The Pentagon announced two military aid packages so far this month, each valued at $400 million. One of them, a drawdown authority action announced on November 10, included sending old Avenger air defense systems to Ukraine for the first time, as well as missiles for HAWK air defense systems. That deal represented the 25th use of presidential drawdown authority. An earlier aid deal announced on November 4 included 45 refurbished T-72B tanks and funding to refurbish the HAWK air defense systems. That aid package was funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which is the pipeline for equipment that is not being transferred directly from the U.S. inventory.
As editor of International Military Markets, North America, Shaun has cultivated a deep understanding of the vast defense markets in the United States and Canada. Shaun's perspective on defense procurement and budget issues has been cited in a variety of defense periodicals, including Defense News and National Defense Magazine. Further, Shaun played an integral role in the development of Forecast International's U.S. Defense Budget Forecast product, which offers an unprecedented level of insight into the Pentagon's acquisition budget. In addition to providing original analytical content for the U.S. Defense Budget Forecast, Shaun oversees an internal defense budget forecasting process involving Forecast International's team of skilled systems analysts following release of the DoD's annual budget request. Shaun is also in charge of managing Forecast International's Weapons Inventory database.
