Murkowski, Sullivan float pairing Ukraine aid with funding for border security

WASHINGTON — With the Republican Party divided on advancing aid to Ukraine, Alaska Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan are suggesting coupling congressional assistance to Kyiv with other GOP priorities like border security funding.

The future of U.S. assistance for Ukraine is unclear after Congress passed a stopgap spending measure over the weekend without funding to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia. A growing number of conservatives — particularly in the House of Representatives — have become vocal critics of allocating more U.S dollars for Ukraine, saying funds would be better spent domestically.

Murkowski and Sullivan have repeatedly supported U.S. aid for Ukraine. Both suggested Wednesday that the path forward for congressional action on Ukraine could be packaging it with other policies, like border security.

Murkowski told reporters she still sees a path forward on Ukraine aid, “because the issue of support for Ukraine is not going away. If anything, it just continues to grow as this war continues.”

Murkowski also noted that while Ukraine aid was taken off the table in the effort to avert a shutdown at the end of September, Republican efforts to include border-related policies were also absent in the agreement.

[Biden suggests he has a path around Congress to get more aid to Ukraine and plans major speech]

“And so you’ve got two very significant issues that I think need to be coupled together,” she said.

“I’m a strong supporter of support for Ukraine. I want to make sure that we’re securing our borders. We’ve got more work to do there. And so I think you will see that effort can continue,” Murkowski said.

Sullivan, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he has tried to make a case to colleagues about broadly “defeating authoritarian aggression.”

“A supplemental has to be about Taiwan and other national security challenges,” Sullivan said. “So that’s what I’ve been working on. Border security, which is critical, and broadening the aperture and looking at our national security threats, not just Ukraine.”

Asked if such a package would include Ukraine aid, Sullivan said, “It would in addition. But it’s not just Ukraine, and the border security component is really important. And many Democrats want it as well, so it’s an opportunity.”

Alaska’s senators are not the only Republicans in the Senate suggesting pairing Ukraine aid with other policies. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that the “vast majority” of the Senate GOP supports a combination of border security, Ukraine aid and disaster funding.

Alaska Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola has also supported reliable Ukraine aid. She did not vote on the stopgap funding measure over the weekend because she is in Alaska after the death of her husband, Eugene “Buzzy” Peltola Jr., in a plane crash.