The United States authorities announced spending on support for Ukraine and military needs as part of the budget for the 2024 fiscal year (from October 1, 2023 to September 31, 2024).

The bill on the state budget and explanations to it are published on the website of the White House and US government departments.

The document says Ukraine and US NATO allies are to receive $6 billion, with "priority" being given to "funding to enhance the capabilities and readiness of US, allied, and partner forces in the face of ongoing Russian aggression."

Also, according to the draft state budget, the White House plans to additionally allocate $ 753 million to Kyiv “to continue counteracting the harmful influence of Russia and to meet emerging security needs.”

In turn, through the State Department and the Agency for International Development (USAID), the Kiev regime can receive $1.7 billion.

According to the State Department website, these funds "will help Ukraine win the war and lay the foundation for reform and reconstruction to achieve peace, as well as help other partners affected by the war to stabilize their economies and begin recovery."

Along with this, Washington is going to significantly increase the amount of appropriations for the needs of the Pentagon.

In 2024, the US military budget could reach $842 billion, which is $26 billion more than in 2023 and almost $100 billion more than in 2022.

The Pentagon commentary emphasizes that the $824 billion bid is based on the priorities set out in the 2022 National Defense Strategy, which talks about threats from Russia and China.

“The President’s request for budgetary resources provides for the funds needed to overcome the challenges of strategic competition with the PRC, combat modern and persistent threats, accelerate innovation and modernization, and ensure operational resilience in our changing (political) environment. -

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) climate, ”the US Department of Defense explained.

"Budget Fight"

In a RT commentary, Vladimir Vasilyev, chief researcher at the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Vasiliev, said that the financial plan presented by the White House indicates that the Biden administration continues to follow the course of satisfying the appetites of the Pentagon and other government departments directly involved in developing steps to counter Russia and China.

However, such a policy, as the expert noted, is contrary to the desire of the US leadership to reduce the level of the budget deficit.

It is assumed that in 2024 this figure will be $1.8 trillion, with the volume of the expenditure side over $6.8 trillion.

At the same time, the expert drew attention to the fact that Ukraine is rarely mentioned in the bill, although the topic of its support should become one of the most discussed in Congress, which can affect the amount of spending proposed by the White House.

  • The White house

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Recall that following the results of last year's parliamentary elections, the Democrats gained control of the Senate, and the Republicans - of the House of Representatives.

In the context of upcoming budget discussions, this means that Biden will have to negotiate with Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republicans in the lower house of parliament, political scientists point out.

The head of the White House has already stated that he is ready to meet with his opponent at "any time."

At the same time, the Republican leader criticized the president's financial plan.

McCarthy and his fellow party members believe that the bill only exacerbates the problem of public debt.

They estimate that over the next ten years, the federal government will spend more than $10 trillion paying interest on the nation's debt.

“U.S. President Joe Biden’s budget proposal is reckless, it continues with a vengeance (carrying out. -

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) the same far-left spending policies that led to record inflation and our current debt crisis,” the Republicans said in a statement published on the website Speaker of the House of Representatives.

According to the Republicans, after getting acquainted with the position of the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, their "worst fears" were confirmed.

Biden's opponents insist the US cannot afford "new deficit spending."

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, Republicans are extremely unhappy with Biden's proposal to legitimize a $1.8 trillion budget deficit.

In addition, they intend to interfere with his plans to raise taxes for wealthy citizens and big businesses.

“The draft US budget for 2024 is drawn up according to the classic principle for Democrats -“ tax and spend ”.

Republicans have always been against this approach.

In addition, they are annoyed by Biden’s obvious desire to please citizens during the pre-election period, as evidenced by the large expenditures on medical care and social security announced in the bill, ”Vasiliev explained.

From his point of view, Biden, who plans to remain in the presidency after 2024, is trying to "in fact buy votes" of the electorate.

Such a financial policy could lead to a new wave of inflation and a rapid increase in public debt, so the White House and the Democrats will face stubborn resistance from the Republicans, Vasiliev predicts.

“Biden’s financial plan from the point of view of the economy can be characterized by the saying “after us, even a deluge.”

The main thing is to win new presidential elections.

Therefore, the struggle for the budget of the 2024 fiscal year will be extremely fierce, ”Vasilyev emphasized.

"Managed decline"

Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that at the moment it is difficult to predict the final volume of assistance to Ukraine, but it is possible that it may be reduced due to disagreements between Democrats and Republicans.

Recall that since the beginning of the special operation, the United States has allocated a total of $ 113 billion for military and economic support of the Kiev regime. Almost half of these expenses are funds that Congress provided to the Pentagon last year.

  • U.S. President Joe Biden's speech to Congress

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As Blokhin noted, dissatisfaction is growing in the ranks of the Republicans with the scale of assistance to Kyiv and with how efficiently it is being spent.

So, in early February, the Gallup Institute published a study according to which 47% of the representatives of the “Elephant Party” believe that Washington is doing “too much” for Kyiv.

“The concerns of the Republican leadership about policy towards Ukraine are aimed at keeping the United States from direct conflict with Russia in any form and preventing the issuance of what some call a “blank check” to the country (Ukraine. - RT

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At the center of other issues of concern is the transparency of the actions of the Ukrainian government,” the study says.

After the publication of these data, Florida Republican Congressman Matt Goetz introduced the “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” to the House of Representatives, in which he called for an end to military and financial support for Kyiv.

In addition to the author, ten other congressmen put their signatures under the document.

“America is in a manageable decline, and if we continue to spend taxpayer money on someone else's war, it will get worse.

We should suspend the provision of any foreign assistance in connection with the conflict in Ukraine and demand that all its participants immediately reach a peace agreement, ”Goetz believes.

Subsequently, a group of 23 Republicans, led by the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives, James Comer, called on the authorities to provide documents that would allow them to verify exactly where the funds allocated to Kyiv were spent.

Congressmen suspect that Ukrainian officials used government vehicles for personal purposes and bought food for the Armed Forces of Ukraine at inflated prices.

According to the Republicans, the authorities should provide "appropriate protective measures to prevent misuse of funds."

According to Blokhin, in order to avoid a negative resonance from the announcement of the next tranches to support Kyiv, the Biden administration may include these costs in secret articles of the state budget.

In particular, large sums to help the Zelensky regime can pass through the CIA.

“The budget bill, which is seen by American taxpayers, indicates very insignificant amounts for supporting Ukraine compared to real spending in this direction.

I think that the money to help the Kyiv regime and the escalation of the conflict will be “hidden” in closed expenditure items, ”concluded Blokhin.