McCarthy says there will be no “blank check” for Ukraine if Republicans win the majority.

McCarthy says there will be "no blank check" for Ukraine if Republicans win the majority.

In a new interview, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggests that Republicans will likely oppose sending more aid to Ukraine if they retake the majority after the 2022 midterms.

“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine. They just won’t do it,” McCarthy told Punchbowl News. “It’s not a free blank check. And then there’s the things [the Biden administration] is not doing domestically. Not doing the border and people begin to weigh that. Ukraine is important, but at the same time it can’t be the only thing they do and it can’t be a blank check.”


Republicans and Democrats in Congress have supported financial aid for Ukraine after Russia invaded the country in February. Since then, the U.S. has committed more than $17.5 billion in weapons and equipment to the war torn country.

However, there has been a divide between traditional national security conservatives, who believe Ukraine should get what they need to defend themselves, and the pro-Trump, pro-Russia wing of the party, who oppose more aid to Ukraine, arguing that the money should be spent at home.


This divide was once again on display on Tuesday. Hours after McCarthy’s comments Rep. Michael McCaul, the ranking member on the House foreign affairs committee said Ukraine should get what they need, but if Republicans retake the House there will be more oversight.

“We’ve got to give them what they need. When we give them what they need, they win,” McCaul told Bloomberg. “I do think you have broad bipartisan support for what’s happening in Ukraine, but I think you’ll see, if we get the majority, more oversight and accountability in terms of the funding and where the money’s going, and I think the American taxpayers deserve that.”