McCarthy and McConnell Split Over Defense

“A schism is opening between Congress’ two top Republican leaders over how much to hike defense spending and future aid to Ukraine,” Politico reports.

“One day after Speaker Kevin McCarthy came out against exceeding the spending caps set by his debt-limit deal with President Joe Biden, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell dug in to insist that more must be done to support the nation’s defense interests.”

“McConnell took to the floor to call the Biden administration’s defense budget, whose levels the bipartisan debt deal matched, ‘simply insufficient given the major challenges that our nation faces.’ He cited ‘growing threats from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and terrorists emboldened by America’s retreat from Afghanistan.'”