White House: ‘Critically Important’ We Fund Ukraine to Avoid Shutdown, ‘We’ll Have to See’ if Border’s Included

On Monday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated that it’s “clear we have to support” funding for Ukraine and “we can’t let a small group of extreme Republicans block this critically important geopolitical investment” but “We’ll have to see” if border security funding is part of keeping the government open.

After Bernstein stated that the process of avoiding a shutdown altogether isn’t over yet and noted that President Joe Biden said that American support for Ukraine can’t be interrupted, co-host Becky Quick then asked, “Will support at the border, at our border be part of that too? Those seem like the two issues that stand out, Ukrainian support funding, but also what happens at the U.S. border.”

Bernstein responded, “We’ll have to see about that. The point that I’m making about Ukraine is that it’s similar to the CR in the fact that you’ve got a very large majority, including every leader up there, both in the House and Senate, supporting the funding for Ukraine. And you’ve got a murderous regime that is actively doing what they’re doing in Ukraine, and it’s clear we have to support that funding, again, a widely shared view in Congress. And we can’t let a small group of extreme Republicans block this critically important geopolitical investment in, not just security for Ukraine, but for all free nations.”

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