U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to the press onboard of Air Force One en route from Israel, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, October 18, 2023.  REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
United States

Biden to request $74 billion for Ukraine, Israel from Congress

U.S. President Joe Biden will ask Congress for $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, a source familiar with his plan told Reuters.

(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will ask Congress for $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel, a source familiar with his plan told Reuters.

The request will also include $10 billion for humanitarian aid, $14 billion for border security and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific region, the source said.

Half of the $60 billion Biden is requesting for Ukraine would go toward replacing and modernizing U.S. weapons stocks, the source said.

Biden was scheduled to outline the request in a White House speech at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday (0000 GMT on Friday).

He was widely expected to ask Congress to pass a supplemental spending bill quickly, as Washington responds to the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants while looking to further support Ukraine grapple with a Russian invasion.

Under U.S. law, Congress, not the executive branch, controls spending.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, editing by Dan Whitcomb and Howard Goller)

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