WASHINGTON – The senator is seeking more funds for Ukraine and protection for Defense Secretary Pete Hegses, who is interfering with Ukrainian aid after the Pentagon temporarily shut down weapons delivery to war-torn countries earlier this month.
The senator of the Armed Services Committee hopes to send $500 million to Ukraine through 2028 each year, according to a summary of the annual Defense Policy Bill released on July 11th.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the New Hampshire committee, said he added language to the bill to prevent “average of military equipment mandated by Ukraine after the Pentagon’s misguided decision.” The provision “puts guardrails on the harmful policies of Chief Hegses… ensuring that the promised military aid continues the flow to Ukraine,” she said in a statement.
Less than a week after President Donald Trump said that the Ukrainian president needed weapons to protect himself and assaulted Vladimir Putin in the strictest language he still directed to Russian leaders, the delivery was launched again less than a week after Hegses stopped them.
The senator also wants to request Hegses to continue sharing the Pentagon intelligence news with Ukraine, according to a summary of the approved bill. The Trump administration temporarily suspends all Ukrainian aid, including the controversial exchange of Ukrainian President Voldy Mie Zelensky held in an oval office in late February.
Trump has not requested or designated new funds for Ukraine, but he is reportedly considering another aid package, according to Reuters and other outlets. Of the money allocated by former President Joe Biden, the $3.86 billion relic is a separate wreckage from the funds allocated by Congress.
Meanwhile, the “markup” of the defense bill by Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the Republican Armed Services Committee, renews funding for Ukraine, but not a $200 million increase in the Senate.
But that version would also prohibit Trump from spending or reassigning Ukrainian funds without giving Congress a “written resolve that doing so is in the interest of the US.”
“This means it’s not time for President Trump to suspend US military aid to help Ukraine defend,” Rogers said in a statement after the weapons delivery suspension ended.
