Trump administration demanded Democrats strip Ukraine aid language from spending package

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

Senior Trump administration officials in recent days threatened a presidential veto that could have led to a government shutdown if House Democrats refused to drop language requiring prompt release of future military aid for Ukraine, according to five administration and congressional officials.

The language was ultimately left out of mammoth year-end spending legislation that passed the House and Senate this week ahead of a Saturday shutdown deadline. The White House said President Trump would sign the $1.4 trillion package before midnight.

The Ukraine provision was one of several items the White House drew a hard line on during negotiations to finalize the spending legislation, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the developments. It would have required the White House to swiftly release $250 million in defense money for Ukraine that was part of the spending package.

The White House this year refused to release congressionally appropriated defense aid to Kyiv during a period when President Trump had asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former vice president and 2020 candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who had served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. Trump’s request of Zelensky as the White House delayed the aid was at the heart of House Democrats’ decision to impeach Trump this week on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2019/12/20/trump-administration-demanded-democrats-strip-ukraine-aid-language-spending-package/

[catbyte]

1. Fuck them. Might as well let Putin work from the Oval Office in person.

He and every one of those cowardly, corrupt, and complicit republicans supporting that traitor need to go, ASAP.

[pazzyanne]

2. You got that right!

I'm getting sick watching what is happening. Hopefully "Christianity Today" will put a dent in tRump's base support.

[Bayard]

3. The only reason he would insist on that,

He plans to use the same tactic again. Or, he wants to punish Zelensky for not coming up with the goods last time.

[duforsure]

6. I think putin has trump and him

Putting the squeeze on Zelensky , and to make him look bad so putin can again install his man. Putin has done this before using others to help him make someone either help him or they get replaced. They're trying to corrupt him.

[cntrfthrs]

4. as usual...

the wimpy dems caved...

[Stonepounder]

5. Not sure I can agree with you on that.

A Trump veto would have led to a gov't shutdown. Remember Trump's last shutdown that furloughed thousand's of Gov't employees over the holidays causing real hardships all over the country. The Dem's were between a rock and a hard place. Do they refuse to strip the provision and end up with a shutdown that could last until Trump got what he wanted (cause you know that the Senate would never, ever override a Trump veto), or did they quietly accept the inevitable and keep federal workers working over the holidays?

[DeminPennswoods]

7. Dems didn't delete the money, only the requirement

that it be spent right away.

[ewagner]

10. True...

Congress still has the "power of the purse" and can take POTUS to task if he alters their decision...it would be a lengthy process but it would give tRump ANOTHER case of Political Halitosis if he tried it.

[Snoopy 7]

8. According to trump GW bush should have been impeached for lying.

Trump has gone around and on fix news about how he gave Ukraine their money. Well now we found that there is still money being withheld, isn't that a lie?

[rickyhall]

9. We got to rid of that orange bastard!

[olegramps]

11. I believe that overall it was a smart move by the Democrats.

They have gone on notice opposing Trump's tactics. He has responded by demanding that they remove the provision. This amounts to de facto admission that he wanted to be able to do this. Now if he proceeds to actually delay the assistance he will open himself to the charge of aiding the Russians.

It is becoming closer to the point of his cooperation with Putin amounting to actual treason. His conspiracy with the dictator of Turkey, Erdogan, to pull our troops out to allow the Turks to slaughter our allies, was just as evil as his attempted aid Russia in its conquest of Ukraine as the did in Crimea.

His admiration for every one of the most notorious dictators and his slander of our allies can not go unchallenged much longer without serious repercussions for our nation. He is undermining the structure put in place following WWII that has provided for our nation's and its allies for the essential protection against a determined enemy. Americans had better awaken to the treat before its too late. We have a treasonous bastard at the helm who is being aided by party that is determined to transform the presidency into a virtual dictatorship. This is not some spurious charge but one proven by systematic firing of key officials who have been replaced by the likes of the Attorney General who is a dedicated champion of Unitary Executive theory which would sanctions the president with total control of government. The traitors' power is rapidly developing with the control of the Supreme Court and their massive appointments of judges who all indorse this radical interpretation of Article Two that totally negates the balance of power that was demanded by the framers the Constitution.

[keithbvadu2]

12. Are the repubs happy that they are looking to shut down the gov't again?

Are the repubs happy that they are looking to shut down the gov't again?

[LudwigPastorius]

13. Putin's foreign minister: Donald J. Trump