"I am worried," Biden said when asked if he is concerned about Ukraine aid being approved if Republicans win the midterm elections, as quoted by the press pool on Thursday.
US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has pledged that if the Republicans become a majority in the lower chamber of Congress after the midterms, Ukraine will not get a "blank check" for assistance given the looming recession in the United States.
“These guys on the other team don’t get it... they [Republicans] said that if they win they’re not likely to fund, to continue to fund Ukraine," Biden added. “These guys don’t get it. It’s a lot bigger than Ukraine. It’s Eastern Europe. It’s NATO. It’s really serious, serious consequential outcomes.”
Biden said the Republicans have "no sense of American foreign policy."
US lawmakers are looking to pass a new $50 billion military aid package for Ukraine before January amid concerns that the upcoming midterm elections in November could usher in a new Congress less willing to prop up Kiev, NBC reported on Thursday, citing legislators and aides familiar with the effort.
Congress has approved some $70 billion in aid to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation on February 24.
US voters go to the polls on November 8 to cast ballots in the midterm elections, with the Democratic Party's narrow control of Congress hanging in the balance. Thirty-four of the 100 seats in the US Senate - and all 435 House seats - are up for election this year, in addition to statewide and local positions.
The Democrats currently control the House by eight seats while the Senate is split 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris representing the tie-breaking vote in her role as president of the upper chamber.
Poll aggregator Real Clear Politics (RCP) has Republican candidates ahead in 221 contests, Democrats leading in 176, with 38 considered "toss ups." Another 218 are needed to win control of the lower chamber. If the races ended today, Republicans would end up with 47 seats in the Senate, the Democrats 46, with seven races in the toss-up category.