With new questions about the future of U.S. funding for Ukraine’s war-effort amid Russia’s invasion swirling, President Joe Biden on Thursday gathered his national security team for a briefing about the war-torn country. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden on Thursday gathered his national security team for a briefing about Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific  
  • It marked the first national security meeting with the freshly-confirmed Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown and Biden spent most of his brief remarks to kick off Thursday’s meeting welcoming Brown
  • Thursday’s meeting came just a day after Biden said “it does worry me” when asked whether the disarray on Capitol Hill following the ousting of now-former Speaker Kevin McCarthy could impact the ability of the U.S. to provide the aid to Ukraine that the White House has asked for 

It marked the first national security meeting with the newly confirmed Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Q. Brown, a former Air Force general who is the second Black officer in the nation’s top general position after Colin Powell.

The president spent most of his brief remarks to kick off Thursday’s meeting welcoming Brown, telling him “you’re accelerating the change we need.”

“The secretary of defense has been bragging about you [for] a long time,” Biden added. 

Two weeks ago, the Senate confirmed Brown to take over the position after bypassing Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s monthslong blockade on hundreds of military promotions over the Pentagon’s abortion policy.  

Thursday’s meeting came just a day after Biden said “it does worry me” when asked whether the disarray on Capitol Hill following the ousting of now-former Speaker Kevin McCarthy could impact the ability of the U.S. to provide the aid to Ukraine that the White House has asked for. 

This summer, the White House asked Congress to approve about $24 billion in aid to Ukraine for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, which started this month. That became a sticking point in efforts to avert a government shutdown on Oct. 1 and was left out of the short-term funding measure Congress approved on Saturday to keep the government funded through Nov. 17. 

The president went on to emphasize the point he has made for weeks when asked about whether Congressional leaders could overcome the reluctance from some Republicans to continue funding the war effort; “I know there are a majority of members of the House and Senate in both parties who have said that they support funding Ukraine.”

However, Biden acknowledged that he does have some concerns that the uncertainty surrounding who the GOP will pick to lead the lower chamber could impact Ukraine funding marked a shift. 

Amid the unpredictability, Biden said “there is another means by which we may be able to find funding for that." He did not elaborate on what that path could be. 

“I'm not going to get into that now,” he said. 

The president said Wednesday that he is going to give a “major speech” on Ukraine soon. 

"I'm going to make the argument that it's overwhelmingly in the interest of the United States of America that Ukraine succeed," Biden said. "It's overwhelmingly in our interest – I've spent two-and-a-half years putting together coalitions that no one thought could be put together.” 

Earlier this week, Biden convened a call with other leaders and allies to coordinate support for the war-torn country. 

At the top of Thursday’s meeting, the president said his national security team would also be discussing Iran, North Korea and the Indo-Pacific more widely.