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() — Support for additional aid to Ukraine is dropping among lawmakers and voters as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits Washington, D.C. to meet with President Joe Biden and members of Congress in an effort to gather support.
A CNN poll found 55% of Americans thought the U.S. should not authorize any more funding for Ukraine and 51% say the U.S. has already done enough to help the country fighting back after a Russian invasion.
That’s a drop from previous polling. A Reuters/Ipsos poll done in June, days after the death of Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, showed 65% of respondents favored arming Ukraine. Support was strongest among Democrats, with 81% in favor of sending arms compared to 56% of Republicans.
The latest CNN polling also showed partisan divides regarding the role of the U.S. in the war. Among Republicans, 71% said Congress shouldn’t authorize more funding compared to 62% of Democrats who are in favor of sending more aid.
There were divisions in the type of aid Americans would like to see the government provide to Ukraine. A majority in both parties said the U.S. should provide intelligence assistance to the country while Democrats were more likely to back military training and provide weapons than Republicans.
For Republicans and Democrats, a small minority of less than 20% across both parties support sending U.S. troops to Ukraine to participate in combat operations.
Republican senators broadly support aid for Ukraine, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attempting to pull his party together in support of assistance. While there are some holdouts, senators on both sides of the aisle have expressed the need to oppose the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
House Republicans, however, have become more outspoken in opposing more money for Ukraine.
Congress has authorized four previous rounds of aid to Ukraine with a total cost about $113 billion. The White House is hoping to attach additional funding to a continuing resolution to fund the government.
An organization grading Republicans on support for Ukraine gave 72 of the 222 House Republicans an F for opposing aid. More conservative members of the party have objected to sending money abroad rather than putting it toward domestic causes.
“The only thing U.S. leaders should be talking with Zelenskyy about it is a permanent cease fire and ending the war, not writing him a check to continue grinding Ukraine to a bloody stump,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted.
Others are pushing back on the Biden administration by demanding an accounting of the money already spent in support of Ukraine and a clearer picture of how Zelenskyy plans to achieve victory. In a letter to Biden, 23 House Republicans demanded answers.
“How is the counteroffensive going? Are the Ukrainians any closer to victory than they were 6 months ago? What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan? What does the administration define as victory in Ukraine? What assistance has the United States provided Ukraine under Title 10? It would be an absurd abdication of congressional responsibility to grant this request without knowing the answers to these questions,” the letter reads.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who will hold a separate meeting with Zelenskyy, with a smaller bipartisan group of lawmakers and committee chairmen, is one of those seeking answers.
“I will have questions for President Zelenskyy,” McCarthy told reporters before the visit.
The House speaker said he wanted more accountability for the money the U.S. has already approved for Ukraine before moving ahead with more.
And, McCarthy said, he wants to know, “What is the plan for victory?”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
