“Bring it to my desk for the next few days,” Biden said in a statement.
But he said Monday that congressional leaders had told him to make efforts to speed up aid to Ukraine. Biden initially asked for $ 33 billion to help Ukraine as it fought Russia, but Congress offered another billion for food aid and military equipment.
Democrats are now expected to move aid to Ukraine and Covid-19 separately, starting in the House this week.
“We cannot afford to delay this vital military effort,” Biden said in a statement. “I am therefore ready to take these two measures separately, so that the bill on Ukrainian aid can reach my bureau immediately.”
Republicans in the Senate have pushed for the two issues to move in different legislative paths. In April, Republicans in the Senate blocked efforts to pass a $ 10 billion bill to ease Covid because of demands for an amendment, including one aimed at the Biden administration’s decision to repeal a Trump-era order known as Title 42. which allowed U.S. border guards to turn migrants back immediately to Mexico or their home countries due to the public health crisis.
South Dakota Sen. John Tun, the second Republican in the Senate, said the Senate could consider both packages next week.
Tun said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had signaled his readiness to allow a vote on amendments to the 42nd provision, paving the way for the adoption of the $ 10 billion Covid-19 relief bill. A Sumerian spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Thun said the Covid-19 bill “will be considered a different time.”
“Now I hear that Sumer is open to amending Title 42, which may be voted on at some point,” Thun added.
The White House did not want the package for Ukraine to sink into Congress, although Democrats insisted on tying the two together for fears that Republicans would block the U.S. response to the pandemic.
In a statement Monday, Biden wrote that he was “pleased” that “there seems to be strong support” from a bipartisan majority in Congress to help Ukraine.
But he reiterated the importance of spending even more resources to tackle the pandemic. The administration recently predicted that the United States could potentially see 100 million Covid-19 infections this fall and winter.
“As vital as it is to help Ukraine fight Russian aggression, it is as vital to help Americans fight COVID,” Biden said.
“Without timely funding for COVID, more Americans will die unnecessarily,” he added. “We will lose our place in the queue for America to order new treatments and vaccines for COVID in the fall, including next-generation vaccines under development, and we will not be able to maintain our supply of COVID tests.
Claire Foran of CNN contributed to this report.
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