Schumer leads Ukraine trip to reassure allies, pressure House GOP

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is in Ukraine with plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the nation marks the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

The Democratic CODEL, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (R.I.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Michael Bennet (Colo.) and Maggie Hassan (N.H.), hopes to reassure Ukrainians of continued U.S. support, despite a bitter Capitol Hill fight over further aid to the war-torn nation.

Schumer said in a Friday morning statement that he hoped to put pressure on Speaker Mike Johnson to take up and pass the national security supplemental spending package the Senate passed last week. It includes $60 billion in both military and economic assistance for Kyiv.

“We are here to show the Ukrainian people that America stands with them and will continuing fighting to get the funding they so desperately need and deserve. We will not stop fighting until we gain the aid,” Schumer said. “We believe we are at an inflection point in history and we must make it clear to our friends and allies around the globe that the US does not back away from our responsibilities and allies.”

Seventy senators voted to pass the Senate’s supplemental spending bill, including 22 Republicans, in a dramatic, predawn vote on Feb. 13. Former President Donald Trump opposed the aid package and urged Republicans to vote against it.

“When we return to Washington, we will make clear to Speaker Johnson — and others in Congress who are obstructing military and economic support — exactly what is at stake here in Ukraine and for the rest of Europe and the free world,” Schumer said. “We will keep working to ensure Congress steps up, does the right thing, and delivers help for our friends and allies.”

Johnson has not been enthusiastic about the Senate’s proposal after major policy changes for the U.S.-Mexico border were stripped from the package. There is a bipartisan House proposal to send $66 billion abroad, with $47 billion for Ukraine, while also reinstituting the Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers at the southern border.

Lawmakers from both parties have traveled to Europe in recent weeks to promise that the United States will not desert Ukraine and other European allies.