what the impeachment of Kevin McCarthy changes for American support for kyiv

2023-10-04 15:43:11

What the impeachment of Kevin McCarthy changes for American support for Ukraine

In the United States, the Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, was ousted from his post on Tuesday, the victim of fratricidal quarrels within his party. His opponents accused him of having negotiated a provisional budget with the Democrats to avoid a shutdown; the Republican Matt Gaetz, who led the revolt, also accused him of having concluded a « accord secret » with the president, Joe Biden, on a possible envelope for Ukraine. The right wing of the Republican Party strongly opposes the release of additional funds for kyiv, believing that this money should instead be used to fight the migration crisis on the border between the United States and Mexico.

From Tuesday, Joe Biden worked to reassure the United States’ allies about the sustainability of American support for Ukraine. He organized a conference call to “coordinate further aid to Ukraine”said the White House in a short press release.

For its part, the Department of Defense published a statementrecalling that it remains $5.4 billion in equipment available for Ukraine and $1.6 billion to replenish its own stocks after having transferred weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. “We have enough funding authorities to meet Ukraine’s needs for some time, but we need Congress to act to ensure there is no interruption in our support, particularly to as the Department of Defense seeks to replenish its stocks »said Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh.

According to Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), military aid to Ukraine amounts on average to 86 million dollars per day (81.8 million euros), or 2.7 billion dollars per month (2.57 billion euros). The House of Representatives is expected to remain without a speaker for at least a week. Several Republicans said they were planning a meeting on October 10 to discuss possible successors to Kevin McCarthy, and that a vote would take place on October 11.

While it is too early to know who Steve Scalise, Tom Emmer, Jim Jordan, Byron Donalds or Patrick McHenry will succeed Mr. McCarthy, a group of elected officials gathered in the “Republicans for Ukraine” group has established A dashboard summarizing the position of the elected representatives of the Grand Old Party on Ukraine, with grades ranging from A (for “excellent”, those who support Kiev) to F (for “very bad”, those who generally vote against measures of support).