US President Joe Biden has requested $61.4 billion for Ukraine. However, there are still no guarantees that the assistance will ever reach Kyiv.
Biden’s speech last week, calling for a united Western front to back Ukraine and Israel, received strong praise from across a wide spectrum of Americans. In the speech, Biden argued that the world was at an “inflection point in history – one of those moments where the decisions we make today are going to determine the future for decades to come.” The President made his case for why America could no longer sit on the sidelines of the world’s affairs, insisting that it must take an active role. Of course, Biden’s words received very positive press coverage in Ukraine.
Notwithstanding the strong speech, subsequent polling numbers showed no signs of the nation rallying around his plea, as there was no statistically significant change in his approval rating.
Biden now has a job approval of only 41 percent, and only 40.6 percent have a positive opinion of the Oval Office holder.
The reasons for this are many, but one is that Americans are disappointed by their government’s inability to address their top concerns. Only 25 percent of the nation believes that the country is “headed in the right direction,” according to polls reported by RealClearPolitics.
To make matters worse for Biden, 39.6 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Donald Trump.
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Polling for the Republicans shows that Trump is leading in the primaries with a national average of 59 percent versus second-place Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 13 percent and third-place former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at 7 percent. It is statistically improbable, barring any unforeseen circumstances, that Trump will not win the Republican nomination.
In a general election, Trump is leading Biden by 2 to 4 percentage points according to two recent polls.
On Ukraine, 43 percent of Americans back the way Biden is managing the Russo-Ukrainian war versus 53 percent who say that they do not agree with the way that the President is managing the situation between Ukraine and Russia.
For Biden to get his aid package through the Republican held US Congress, he will have an uphill battle as now only a minority of Republicans still support assistance for Ukraine. Attempting to sweeten the deal for Republicans, Biden is offering money to secure US borders, one of the top concerns for many Americans. This may be good enough of a deal for the bill to pass the House before arriving at the Democrat-held Senate where it should pass easily.
However, before that can happen, at present, there is still no Speaker of the House of Representatives, which means that no votes on any legislation can be held, according to House Rules.
As week three of looking for a new Speaker begins, Republicans are no closer to finding a replacement. This comes as the US heads towards a Nov. 17 deadline to approve a new US Federal budget. Voting on Biden’s “urgent” support for Ukraine and Israel would only come after a new US budget is approved – so it could still be weeks away.
While the situation in Washington remains complicated and uncertain for Ukraine, there is still hope that next week a moderate candidate will be elected from among the Republican caucus in the House, and that support for Ukraine will, again, be a less controversial matter.
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