Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Congress on
Tuesday during a private briefing that if they do not pass more aid to
Ukraine, it would “very likely” lead to U.S. troops fighting a war in
Europe.“If [Vladimir] Putin takes over Ukraine, he’ll get
Moldova, Georgia, then maybe the Baltics,” House Foreign Affairs
Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) told
The Messenger, after Austin and other senior Biden administration
officials briefed House lawmakers on their request for more aid for
Ukraine.

“And then the idea that we’ll have to put troops on the ground in
Secretary Austin’s word was very likely,” McCaul added. “That’s what
we’re trying to avoid.”

The Messenger reported that the warning “did little”
to win over Republican skeptics, who oppose more aid to Ukraine without
more accountability and transparency on how it will help Ukraine.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told the outlet, “I don’t think we
got the clarity that we’ve been requesting,” and that “It remains to be
seen whether members are satisfied with the answers provided.”The Biden administration has requested a $106 billion aid package
from Congress, with the bulk of it — $61 billion — going to Ukraine.
That would be an addition to the $113 billion that has been allocated to
support Ukraine in its war with Russia since February 2022.Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) told the Messenger that the briefing was “prescriptive and staged.”

“I didn’t get a sense that any minds were changed in
there,” he said. “It wasn’t impressive or insightful in any way other
than what you might see in the news. It was just a hopeful pressure
effort.”

Duarte reportedly said President Joe Biden needed to “start
negotiating and quit screwing around with vacuous briefings that tell us
things we already know.”Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told The Messenger the classified Ukraine
briefing was “boring,” and said, “These guys are just speechifying about
most of the stuff you guys already report on the news.”“Joe Biden needs to do his job, secure our border,” he added. “You do that, then members of Congress will talk.