More Republicans opposed to continued Ukraine aid: survey

More Republicans now oppose continued U.S. aid to Ukraine amid its months-long war with Russia, according to a new Wall Street Journal survey.

The poll, published Thursday, found that 48 percent of registered Republican respondents said that they believe the U.S. is doing too much to help Ukraine fend off the invasion from its neighbor, up from only 6 percent earlier this year. 

Seventeen percent of Republicans in the new survey said that they believe the U.S. isn’t doing enough to help Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, a 44-point decrease from the 61 percent of GOP respondents who shared the same sentiment in March. 

Almost one-third of all respondents in the new survey — 30 percent — said that they believe the U.S. is doing too much to help Ukraine, a 6-point increase from March. 

Fifty-seven percent of respondents, meanwhile, now say they are in favor of the U.S. sending additional financial aid to Ukraine, while 37 percent oppose the idea. 

An overwhelming majority of registered Democrats — 81 percent — said that they support additional financial aid for Ukraine, as did 35 percent of Republicans and 45 percent of independent respondents. 

The Journal notes that its latest poll comes after the U.S. has provided nearly $18 billion in aid to Ukraine since its conflict with Russia began in February.

Some GOP lawmakers have started to criticize the aid, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) saying last month that Republicans will not write “a blank check” to Ukraine if they take control of the lower chamber of Congress in next week’s midterm elections. 

McCarthy defended his remarks, saying while he will still supports Ukraine, the U.S. is $31 trillion in debt. 

“It’s amazing to me that that somehow made news,” McCarthy told CNBC. “Wouldn’t you want a check and balance in Congress? Wouldn’t you want this hardworking taxpayers’ money, someone overseeing it? We’ve got to eliminate the wasteful spending in Washington.”