A $95 billion war assistance package that President Joe Biden signed into law on Wednesday includes funding for Taiwan, Ukraine, and Israel. The package also has a provision that would mandate the sale or prohibition of the social media platform TikTok in the United States.

With this declaration, the protracted and agonizing fight with Republican lawmakers in Congress over Ukraine’s critically needed aid has finally come to a close.

At that very time, we arose. We joined forces. when Biden announced the signature at a White House event. “We are moving quickly because we need to.”

However, the Democratic president’s initial emergency spending request for aid to Ukraine was in August, and since then, there has been a funding deadlock, severely hampering the Biden administration’s efforts to assist Ukraine in repelling Russia’s barbaric assault. Ukraine has suffered months of losses, and it is doubtful that it will instantly recover, even with a surge of fresh weaponry and ammunition.

U.S. officials have budgeted approximately $61 billion for Ukraine, and Biden has signed an initial aid package of military support, stating that shipment would begin in the “next few hours” — the first tranche, according to them. To bolster Ukrainian forces, whose morale has been dwindling due to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s string of victories, it is anticipated that the shipment will contain air defense capabilities, artillery rounds, armored vehicles, and other weapons.

But in the long run, it’s unclear if Ukraine can recover from months of defeats in the east and major infrastructural damage fast enough to keep the political support of the United States before using up the most recent infusion of funding.

National security spokeswoman for the White House John Kirby stated, “It’s not going in the Ukrainians’ favor in the Donbas, certainly not elsewhere in the country,” in reference to the eastern industrial heartland, where Ukraine has encountered difficulties. Mr. Putin believes he can buy himself some time. I guess we’ll have to attempt to compensate for part of that time.

The parent firm of TikTok, ByteDance, based in Beijing, China, has nine months to sell it before the app is banned countrywide in the US. This clause is buried in the law. If the president certifies that there is a plan for divestment and “significant progress” in carrying it out, he can extend the deadline to sell by 90 days, making it one year altogether.

A coalition of politicians from both parties in Congress and the White House has labeled the social media platform a rising threat to national security.

In response to what it deemed as Congress’s “unconstitutional” attempt, TikTok announced it will sue.

“We are confident that the evidence and the law are clearly in our favor, and we will succeed in the end,” the company stated. We have actually spent billions of dollars to ensure the security of American data and to prevent any type of manipulation or influence on our platform. Seven million companies would go out of business and 170 million people would be silenced because of this ban.

In light of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Biden emphasized that the law also contains a surge of humanitarian aid for the Palestinian people in Gaza.

When asked about the bill’s humanitarian aid for Palestinians, Biden said Israel must make sure it reaches Gaza “without delay.”

The Russian attention has shifted to Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine. Russian forces have taken advantage of the city’s lack of air defense, wreaked havoc on the energy infrastructure of the area, and are trying to set the stage for an offensive to take the city in the summer.

Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Thomas Massie (KY) and other members of the extreme right wing of Speaker Mike Johnson’s party threatened to remove him from office if he permitted a vote to send additional money to Ukraine, so he postponed the vote on the extra aid package for months. Persistent dangers remain.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell implied that the continued obstruction of funding by his Republican colleagues may undermine Ukraine’s prospects of achieving victory in the conflict.

This past Tuesday, McConnell made it clear that the chances of overcoming Russian aggression had been diminished due to the delay in supplying weaponry to Ukraine. “The difficulties we are facing have been exacerbated by hesitancy and procrastination.”

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024, former president Donald Trump, has voiced his displeasure with European partners over their lack of action against Ukraine. His tone has changed in recent days, recognizing that the United States prioritizes Ukraine’s existence, even though he refrained from backing the extra aid plan.

Indeed, some European heads of state have long worried that a Trump reelection would lead to less American backing for NATO and Ukraine. Concerns in Europe were already high in February when Trump threatened NATO members in a campaign address that, if reelected, he “would encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to those who fail to reach their defense expenditure targets.

In the discussion of funding for Ukraine, it was a watershed moment. The head of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, wasted no time scolding Trump for endangering “American and European soldiers at increased risk.” Just days after Trump made his remarks, Biden criticized him, calling them “dangerous” and “un-American.” He also accused Trump of aiding Putin.

In actuality, however, the White House began its lobbying to secure more funds for Ukraine months before that.

In a rare prime-time address, Biden made his case for the additional cash the day after returning from a quick trip to Tel Aviv in response to the horrific attack on Israel by Hamas militants on October 7.

The House was in disarray at the time due to the Republican majority’s inability to choose a new speaker to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who had been removed from office almost two weeks earlier. It was earlier this year that McCarthy consented to accept government expenditure levels, which many on his right wing disagreed with and wanted reversed. Now, he must face the far right of the GOP.

Even though there seems to be no end in sight to the fighting in Ukraine, far-right Republicans have been firmly against sending additional funding for the country. Despite a personal appeal for sustained U.S. support made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the over $20 billion that Biden had sought to maintain help flowing into Ukraine was stricken from a must-pass budget package.

Johnson, a low-profile Republican from Louisiana whose views on Ukraine were hazy, was chosen by Republicans to succeed Boehner as speaker in late October. During their congrats conversation, Biden encouraged Johnson to swiftly approve funding for Ukraine and launched a months-long, mostly covert campaign to get the issue put to a vote.

While meeting privately with Johnson, Biden, and other White House officials emphasized the gravity of the situation for Europe in the event that Russia were to seize control of Ukraine. Just five days after Johnson was officially elected speaker, national security adviser Jake Sullivan briefed him on the administration’s plan for Ukraine and tried to allay conservative concerns by assuring him that accountability mechanisms were already in place in the country to monitor the distribution of aid.

Officials in the White House also disregarded Johnson’s repeated directives to refrain from directly criticizing him over the delayed aid, as Biden himself had instructed his senior aides to do.

A senior administration official said that Johnson seemed to White House officials as forthright and honest during the conversations. Earlier in his time, Biden was able to get a $1 trillion infrastructure package, legislation to support the American semiconductor industry, and an extension of federal health care services for veterans who had been exposed to harmful smoke from burn pits by establishing common ground with Republicans. Additionally, he was aware that additional assistance for Ukraine had the support of many Republicans.

One person, who asked to remain anonymous in order to reveal private conversations, said that Biden told his advisors to “just keep talking, keep working” when negotiations became frustrating.

And so it was done. Seated around a large oval table in White House chief of staff Jeff Zients’ office, the president’s top aides would meet daily to discuss how to effectively convey the gravity of Ukraine’s position without assistance.

Shuwanza Goff, director of legislative affairs, and Steve Ricchetti, advisor to the president, were in constant communication with Johnson. Senior personnel from both Goff and Johnson were in constant communication as a deal was being finalized.

Johnson had a lot of requests, and the White House tried to meet them all. For example, in response to a request from the speaker, members of the administration briefed two conservatives who had long opposed Johnson: Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Ralph Norman (R-S.C.).

During this time, top Biden officials kept McConnell and other influential Republicans, such as Michael McCaul and Mike Turner, apprised of developments on a regular basis.

Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader of the Senate from New York, stated that Biden was right to avoid pressing Johnson.

Schumer stated that Joe Biden demonstrates a remarkable ability to discern when to actively intervene and when to attempt to shape events.

The Russian government’s public denigration of intelligence shows how it is attempting to strengthen its defense industrial complex and evade sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe by strengthening ties with U.S. rivals North Korea, Iran, and China.

For instance, this month, U.S. authorities disclosed intelligence findings indicating that Russia has been receiving an influx of machine tools, microelectronics, and other technologies from China. These technologies are subsequently utilized by Moscow to manufacture missiles, tanks, aircraft, and other forms of armament. The White House has already made public intelligence suggesting that Russia had purchased attack drones from Iran and ballistic missiles from North Korea.

Military analysts predict that the battle might drag on for years, so while $61 billion will help with force triage, Kyiv will require substantially more.

According to Bradley Bowman, a defense strategy and policy analyst at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, realistic objectives for the upcoming months for Ukraine and its allies include preventing the loss of major cities, reducing Russia’s momentum, and supplying Kyiv with additional weaponry that could aid their offensive in 2025.

Our desire for instant gratification is a product of our “microwave culture,” according to Bowman. Things can be tough at times, and there may be delays before you see any improvements. If we withdraw our support for Ukraine, I believe Russia will succeed while Ukraine will not.