By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A powerful U.S. Senate committee approved a military spending bill on Thursday that includes about $1 billion to support Ukraine, despite President Donald Trump’s administration having asked Congress to eliminate such funding in its budget request.
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $852 billion for the Department of Defense in the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30, 2026, which is $21.7 billion, or 2.6%, more than the Republican president requested earlier this year.
The committee voted 26-3 to send the spending measure for a vote in the full Senate, with strong support from both Democrats and Trump’s fellow Republicans.
“Not only the prior administration, but this administration as well, have underestimated the level of challenge that we have,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who chairs the panel’s defense subcommittee.
The bill includes $800 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and $225 million for the Baltic Security Initiative, much of which ends up supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion.
“I would say support for Ukraine is a billion dollars,” Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, the defense spending subcommittee’s top Democrat, told reporters ahead of the Appropriations Committee meeting.
Trump’s budget request, and the defense appropriations bill passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year, did not include any funding for the USAI, which funds security intelligence, training, equipment and supplies for Ukraine.
However, many Republicans in Congress, particularly in the Senate, backed support for Ukraine even before Russia launched its full-scale invasion in early 2022.
And Trump himself recently has grown more frustrated with Moscow’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire. He has recently announced deadlines for Russia to show progress toward ending the war or face new sanctions – despite in the past speaking about having a good relationship with Putin.
Both McConnell and Coons stressed that the U.S. is learning from Ukraine while supporting its military.
“Shutting off engagement with Ukraine would undermine our military’s efforts to prepare for the modern battlefield,” McConnell said during the committee meeting.
The war in Ukraine has evolved into the most-drone intensive conflict ever, and the use of drone technology has helped Ukraine to deal with Russia’s advantages in troop numbers, artillery and tanks.
To become law, the appropriations bill must pass the full Senate and then be reconciled with the House of Representatives bill, which adhered to the Trump administration’s $831.5 billion Pentagon spending request and did not include Ukraine aid.
After that, it would be sent to the White House for Trump to sign into law or veto.
(Reporting by Patricia ZengerleEditing by Frances Kerry)
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