GOP senator says Republicans won’t budge on Ukraine without border action

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) warned Tuesday that Republicans will not budge on aid for Ukraine without action on the border.

“At the end of the day, Republicans aren’t budging until we secure the border. That’s the question that all America is asking Joe Biden right now: ‘Why do Republicans have to beg Joe Biden to secure the border?’ That’s part of his job,” Marshall said on “The Hill” on NewsNation.

“We’ve said all along that if you want to tie securing the border to the Ukraine funding, so be it. He’s the one that lumps these together, but now we have this once-in-a-generation opportunity to use Ukraine funding to leverage the border. And by golly, we’re going to do it,” he continued.

He said that senators must agree on border security before even discussing Ukraine, adding that the United States should be “more focused on a peace treaty” to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

“But the idea of Ukraine going back to pre-Crimea, I just don’t think that that’s realistic at all. I have empathy towards Ukraine. Again, you’re gonna get 49 opinions from Republicans on what to do with Ukraine. But you know … that discussion doesn’t even start until we secure the border,” he said.

Lawmakers have been at odds for weeks over a supplemental aid package that would include funding for Ukraine, Israel and border security measures. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky paid a visit to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday in an effort to persuade GOP lawmakers to back more funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

A growing number of Republicans have grown hesitant to approve more aid for Ukraine, and many have demanded that stronger border security provisions must be included in the supplemental funding bill. Senate Republicans blocked a measure to provide aid to Ukraine and Israel last week because they were unsatisfied with the border security provisions laid out in the bill.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said Tuesday it would be “practically impossible” to pass legislation providing more military aid to Ukraine before Christmas. This comes just a week after the Biden administration warned that the U.S. will run out of money for Ukraine amid its war with Russia without congressional action on the matter.

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