President Joe Biden is asking Congress to provide an additional $13 billion in emergency defense aid and $8 billion in humanitarian support for Ukraine. The request also includes $12 billion for the domestic disaster relief fund and costs a total of $40 billion.
Congress is actively debating how much money it’s willing to spend on Ukraine. House Republicans want to reduce the amount, while the White House, Democrats, and key Senate Republicans, including Sens. Mitch McConnell, Ky., and Lindsey Graham, S.C., want to keep it going full steam ahead.
“For people who might be concerned the costs are getting too high, we’d ask them what the costs – not just in treasure but in blood, perhaps even American blood – could be if Putin subjugates Ukraine,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said this week, according to The Associated Press.
Polling, however, reveals public support for Ukraine aid is dropping.
A recent CNN poll found that 55% of the country believes Congress should not authorize additional funding for Ukraine, while 45% said Congress should.
The data is broken down by age and party affiliation.
Seniors who are 65 and older are the only age group in which a majority support additional funding. Every other age group, from 18 to 64, said Congress should not authorize additional funding.
Based on party, 62% of Democrats support additional funding, but 71% of Republicans and 55% of independents do not.
Respondents were also asked: Do you think the United States should do more to stop Russian military actions in Ukraine, or has it already done enough?
In this survey, 48% said the U.S. should do more and 51% said the U.S. has done enough. But when the same question was asked in February 2022, 62% said the U.S. should do more and 38% said the U.S. has done enough.
While the poll found that Americans are less inclined to support sending more money and weapons, a majority do support providing military training and intelligence gathering.