WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A classified briefing for all U.S. senators on Ukraine, Israel and elements of the national security supplemental funding package requested by President Joe Biden will be conducted on Tuesday, Dec. 5, Senate aides said on Thursday.
The briefers will include Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General C.Q. Brown and U.S. Agency for International Development Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman.
Biden asked Congress last month to approve $106 billion in national security funding, including aid for Ukraine as it battles a Russian invasion, support for Israel after the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants and money for additional security at the U.S. border with Mexico.
But the funding has not been approved, raising concerns that funds for Ukraine in particular might never pass, particularly after the Republican-led House passed a bill including assistance for Israel, but not Ukraine.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Katharine Jackson; editing by Paul Grant and Chizu Nomiyama)
