Day: December 2, 2025

1. Who actually “allocates” money for Ukraine?

Congress

Under U.S. law, only Congress can appropriate federal money – set the legal dollar amounts and what they can be used for. This flows from the Appropriations Clause (“No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law…”) and is implemented through appropriations acts.

Congressional Research Service (CRS) – the nonpartisan research arm of Congress – notes that Congress has passed five emergency supplemental funding measures for Ukraine since 2022, plus regular annual appropriations that also contain Ukraine-related money. Congress.gov+1

A CRS brief on “U.S. Direct Financial Support for Ukraine” (IF12305, hosted on Congress.gov) lists those five Ukraine supplemental laws and states that as of January 2025 Congress had appropriated nearly $174.2 billion in Ukraine-related supplemental funding for FY2022–FY2024. Congress.gov

The official UkraineOversight.gov “Funding” page (run by the Special Inspector General for Operation Atlantic Resolve) summarizes the same story in even plainer language:

“Congress appropriated $174.2 billion through the five Ukraine supplemental appropriation acts enacted FY 2022 through FY 2024…” Ukraine Oversight

So in law:

• Congress writes and passes the bills that set the amounts and purposes (appropriations).
• These include both the five Ukraine emergency supplementals and relevant pieces of annual spending bills.

The President / Administration (now Trump)

Once Congress has made money legally available, the executive branch controls how it’s used within those legal limits.

CRS’s long report “Supplemental Funding for Ukraine” (R47275) walks through how Ukraine laws expanded the President’s authority to transfer or “draw down” defense articles and to reprogram some funds, but always within caps and conditions set by statute. Congress.gov

The UkraineOversight.gov glossary (built from DoD’s Financial Management Regulation) explains the key concepts: Ukraine Oversight

• Appropriation – Congress’s law that authorizes agencies to incur obligations and make payments for specified purposes.
• Apportionment – how the Office of Management and Budget (in the Executive Office of the President) parcels out that appropriated money over time or categories.
• Reprogramming / transfers – limited authority to shift money within or between accounts, as allowed by law.

Putting that together, Trump (or any President) can:

• Propose budgets and supplemental Ukraine requests (or choose not to request more).
• Sign or veto what Congress passes.
• Control implementation of already-appropriated funds:
  • which weapons go in which Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package,
  • how quickly funds are obligated and disbursed,
  • and some reprogramming within the rules Congress set in the Ukraine supplementals and other appropriations. Congress.gov+1

He cannot, on his own, create new Ukraine money that Congress hasn’t appropriated.

Political reality right now (no non-gov sources)

On top of the legal rules, there’s the politics:

• A significant share of Members in the current Congress are openly skeptical about further, large Ukraine packages, often citing corruption and oversight concerns.
• If Trump demanded a big new Ukraine supplemental that leadership and the base didn’t want, he would risk burning political capital with his own majority.

Legally, he can ask; practically, he’s constrained by what Congress is willing to vote for.

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2. What did Congress budget for Ukraine in November 2025?

Short answer using only U.S. government sources:

• In November 2025, Congress passed H.R. 5371, the Continuing Appropriations, Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions Act, 2026.
• It is a continuing resolution (CR) that:
  • Ends the October–November 2025 government shutdown, and
  • Extends FY2026 “continuing appropriations” for most federal agencies through January 30, 2026, generally at FY2025 levels. Congress.gov
• The official House Appropriations Committee press release describes this as a “clean funding extension” that extends funding “until January 30” and notes the shutdown “lasted 43 days.” House Appropriations GOP

What exactly does H.R. 5371 do?

The Congress.gov CRS summary (for H.R. 5371, now Public Law 119-37) states: Congress.gov

“This bill ends the government shutdown by providing FY2026 continuing appropriations for most federal agencies through January 30, 2026…”

and

“The CR funds most programs and activities at the FY2025 levels with several exceptions…”

Key implications:

• It is not a Ukraine-specific law.
• It continues existing accounts (including those that can be used for Ukraine) at about FY2025 levels for a short period.
• It does not create a new, headline Ukraine supplemental title the way the five earlier Ukraine emergency laws did.

From the House Appropriations Committee’s official November 12, 2025 press release, we see the same points in political language:

• Shutdown “lasted 43 days”.
• The CR is a “clean and straightforward short-term CR … [that] simply extends funding until January 30.” House Appropriations GOP

Nothing in that official material indicates a brand-new, separate Ukraine aid package passed in November 2025.

So, if someone says, “In November 2025 Trump budgeted $X more for Ukraine,” the government’s own documents show:

November 2025 = general stopgap for the whole government, not a separate Ukraine supplemental.

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3. What Ukraine money was already on the books by then?

By the time you reach November 2025, Ukraine funding mostly comes from:

a) The five Ukraine supplemental laws (2022–2024)

CRS’s IF12305 “U.S. Direct Financial Support for Ukraine” (on Congress.gov) lists the five emergency supplemental measures specifically responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: Congress.gov

1. Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 – P.L. 117-103, Div. N
2. Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2022 – P.L. 117-128
3. Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 – P.L. 117-180, Div. B
4. Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023 – P.L. 117-328, Div. M
5. Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 (USSAA) – P.L. 118-50, Div. B

CRS then states:

“As of January 2025, Congress has appropriated a total of nearly $174.2 billion from FY2022 through FY2024 in supplemental appropriations in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine.” Congress.gov

The official UkraineOversight.gov Funding page uses essentially the same number and breaks it out: Ukraine Oversight

• $174.2 billion from the five Ukraine supplementals (FY2022–FY2024),
• plus $22.3 billion from annual agency appropriations,
• plus $1.1 billion from other supplemental acts,

for a total of about $187 billion in appropriations related to Operation Atlantic Resolve and the Ukraine response.

That’s all money that Congress has already appropriated before the November 2025 CR.

b) Ongoing defense and security authorities

CRS’s R47275 “Supplemental Funding for Ukraine” details how these laws: Congress.gov

• Raised the cap on Presidential Drawdown Authority for defense articles,
• Created and funded the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI),
• Expanded and adjusted transfer and reprogramming authorities for Ukraine-related support.

Later, the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in the Senate Armed Services Committee executive summary, notes that it extends USAI through 2028 and increases its authorized funding to $500 million (authorization, not appropriation, but still part of the Ukraine toolkit available once Congress supplies appropriations). Armed Services Committee

Again, that’s not a November-2025 thing; it’s part of the broader FY2026 defense legislation.

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4. So how do you answer “Trump just allocated $X for Ukraine in November 2025”?

Using only U.S. government documents, you can say:

1. Congress, not Trump, legally allocates the money.
   • Congress has enacted five Ukraine supplemental appropriation acts plus related annual appropriations, totaling about $174.2 billion in Ukraine supplementals and $187 billion overall for the Ukraine response by early 2025. Congress.gov+1
2. In November 2025, Congress did not pass a new, standalone Ukraine aid law.
   • It passed H.R. 5371 (P.L. 119-37), a continuing resolution that:
     • Ended the 43-day shutdown and
     • Extended most funding at FY2025 levels through January 30, 2026. Congress.gov+1
   • Nothing in the official CRS summary or House Appropriations release suggests a separate, new Ukraine-only tranche in November 2025.
3. Trump’s actual role is:
   • He signs or vetoes what Congress sends him (H.R. 5371 became law on Nov. 12, 2025). Congress.gov
   • He chooses whether to request more Ukraine money in future supplementals. Congress.gov
   • Through OMB apportionment and statutory authorities (drawdown, reprogramming, etc.), his administration controls the pace and form in which already-appropriated Ukraine funds are used. Congress.gov+1

Sources: Midtown Tribune news ,

Midtown Tribune Independent USA news from New York