Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy to address Senate in hope of breaking military funding logjam – US politics live

Zelenskiy will appeal to senators for more cash amid White House warnings that money and time to help country fight Russia are running out

Good morning, US politics blog readers. Congress has for months been deadlocked on approving new military aid for Ukraine, and this afternoon, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy will remotely address senators at 3pm eastern time to remind them of the stakes. The White House yesterday warned that it is weeks away from running out of money to support Kyiv’s defense against Russia’s invasion, and in addition to Zelenskiy’s speech to senators, his chief of staff Andriy Yermak will be in the capitol to press lawmakers to keep up the support.

Part of the reason that Congress has not approved more aid to Ukraine is that Republicans are insisting any new funding is coupled with changes to border policy that are intended to address the surge in migrants entering the country. Immigration policy is one of the most divisive issues in Washington DC, and much of what the GOP has demanded, such as restarting construction of a border wall, or changing asylum policies to let fewer people remain in the country while their case is hear, are unpalatable to Democrats. Negotiations between the two sides reportedly broke down over the weekend, and it’s unclear if they are back on. We’ll see if there’s any movement today in those talks, or if Zelenskiy’s pleas make a difference.

Kamala Harris will hold a behind-closed-doors meeting at 1.15pm with former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords about the administration’s efforts to reduce gun violence.

House Republican leadership will hold a press conference at 10am today, and undoubtedly be asked about lots of things, including speaker Mike Johnson’s stance on Ukraine funding.

Joe Lieberman, the former senator and founder of No Labels, which is considering running a third-party presidential candidate, floated the idea in a Fox News interview of drafting Nikki Haley, should she fail to win the Republican presidential nomination.