WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Concerns over the increasing cost of war are growing on Capitol Hill as Congress now has to focus on two different war fronts. The price tag of these wars is now inching into the hundreds of billions of dollars. But can the U.S. afford this?
Right now, wars are raging in both the Middle East and Ukraine.
The U.S. has already provided billions in support to Ukraine, yet President Joe Biden has called for a new aid package worth billions for Ukraine and Israel.
Since the invasion by the Russian military began over a year and a half ago, the Department of Defense revealed the U.S. has provided almost $44 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, including thousands of Javelin missiles, accounting for a sizeable percentage of the U.S. stockpile.
Now, with the war in Israel against Hamas in Gaza, the U.S. military has sent two aircraft carriers with thousands of sailors aboard, 13 warships, over 1,000 fighter jets and 2,000 specially trained Marines.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently said that no matter what, the U.S. will stand by its allies.
“Make no mistake, we can and will stand by Israel even as we stand by Ukraine. The United States can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Austin said.
However, the large amount of support Congress is giving to other countries has raised questions about how much the U.S. can be stretched giving aid.
The Department of Defense has $1.8 trillion available in budget resources this fiscal year, according to USAspending.gov.
“As time goes on, there will be trade-offs as certain key systems are diverted to Israel. A few systems that Ukraine needs for its counteroffensive may not be available in the numbers that Ukraine would like,” a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. This is especially if the war in Gaza drags on.
While appearing on CBS “60 Minutes” this past Sunday, Biden pushed back against the concerns.
“We’re the United States of America for god’s sake. We’re the most powerful nation in history, not in the world, in the history of the world. The history of the world. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense,” Biden said.
Congress may soon decide on even more military assistance for the two war-torn nations. However, some Republicans oppose the rising price tag of funding in Europe.
“Not another penny for Ukraine!” wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a top Trump ally, arguing money should be spent on securing the U.S. border with Mexico instead.
Presidential candidate Ron Desantis recently raised questions about aid for Israel during an exclusive interview on NewsNation.
“We’ve done about $158 billion to Israel for its entire history. 75 years and we’ve had a strong relationship with them for most of that period of time. And so I’d be interested to see how where that money is going,” DeSantis said.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also recently echoed the president, saying the U.S. can afford to support both Israel and Ukraine’s military needs because, as she said, the American economy is doing extremely well.