GOP gives thumbs down to Biden's $47B emergency request

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's request for more than $47 billion in emergency funding to help Ukraine and tackle COVID-19, monkeypox and natural disasters is encountering deep skepticism from Senate Republicans, signaling a showdown ahead.

The early resistance on the size and scope of the spending request points to the fraught negotiations to come as Congress labors to pass a stopgap spending bill that would keep the federal government running past Oct. 1 or risk a federal shutdown.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday that while Ukraine aid "is obviously a priority," he downplayed the need for other funding — even in his Kentucky home state hit hard by devastating floods.

https://www.startribune.com/gop-gives-thumbs-down-to-bidens-47b-emergency-request/600204704/