‘We’re not attacking Russia,’ Biden says as he asks for $33bn in Ukraine aid – as it happened

That’s it from the US politics live blog today. Here’s how the day unfolded in Washington:

• Joe Biden asked Congress to provide Ukraine with $33bn of additional funding to assist its fight against Russian aggression. The request includes another $20bn in military aid, as well as $8.5bn in economic aid to Kyiv and $3bn in humanitarian relief. “The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” Biden said at the White House today.
• Biden emphasized America’s ongoing assistance to Ukraine should not be taken as an attack on Russia. “We’re not attacking Russia. We’re helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Biden said. “Russia is the aggressor — no ifs, ands or buts about it.” Russia has warned the US against providing Ukraine with more weaponry, but the White House has insisted it will continue to aid its ally.
• Nancy Pelosi said she expected a “strong, bipartisan vote” in the House to approve the next Ukraine aid bill. “The assistance appropriated by Congress has made a significant difference for Ukraine, but much more is needed to fight back against Putin’s brutal aggression,” the Democratic House speaker said in a statement.
• The White House dodged a question about whether it was now a US policy goal for Ukraine to win its war against Russia. “We’re not going to define that from here,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at her daily briefing.
• The US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, contracting by -0.4% in the first quarter, marking its weakest performance since the early days of the pandemic. Biden blamed the contraction on “technical factors” caused by the ongoing pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The Guardian’s live blog on the war in Ukraine is still running, so be sure to follow along with that for more updates:

One reporter asked Jen Psaki whether it was now a policy goal of the United States for Ukraine to beat Russia in the war.

“We’re not going to define that from here,” the White House press secretary said, adding that the question of strategic goals was a matter for Ukrainians to determine.

“What we are going to do from here is to continue to provide them with a range of security and military assistance, as evidenced by the package that the president proposed and put forward to Capitol Hill today,” Psaki said.

Joe Biden’s defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, said earlier this week that the US hoped the war in Ukraine would result in a “weakened” Russia.

“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine,” Austin said.

A reporter asked Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, about the expected timeline for Congress approving the requested $33bn in Ukraine aid, as well as additional pandemic response funds.

“I’m not here to set new deadlines, but I can tell you that both needs are urgent,” Psaki said.

Psaki underscored the crucial need to provide Ukraine with more resources as it fights off Russian attacks more than two months after the war began.

“In order to continue to help assist them, help make sure they have the the weapons they need, the artillery they need, the equipment they need, it is certainly urgent to move forward on this funding,” Psaki said.

The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, is now holding her daily briefing, and a reporter kicked off today’s questioning by asking about student debt cancelation.

Joe Biden said earlier today, “I am not considering $50,000 [student] debt reduction, but I am in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness.”

Asked whether the White House has concluded that Biden can cancel student debt via executive order, Psaki replied, “There’s been no conclusion of any process internally yet.”

The president said today that he would provide an update on his student debt policies “in the next couple weeks”. Progressives have called on Biden to cancel all federal student debt, but Biden has signaled opposition to that proposal.

Republican Senator Rick Scott has released a statement denouncing Joe Biden’s criticism of his tax proposals after the commerce department reported the US economy contracted during the first quarter of 2022.

“Joe Biden is clearly obsessed with my plan to rescue America and very confused about his own agenda that is devastating American families. Unlike Joe Biden, I’m a proven tax cutter,” Scott said.

The Florida senator noted a recent Washington Post analysis concluded the White House had made false claims about Scott’s proposal, which has even attracted some criticism from fellow Republicans.

“As long as Biden and the Democrats keep trying to destroy this great country, I’ll be fighting to rescue it,” Scott said.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said he would probably support a bill appropriating another $33bn in aid to Ukraine, as Joe Biden has requested.

“Very likely yes,” McConnell told ABC News.

However, some Senate Republicans have warned Democrats against trying to combine the Ukraine aid and pandemic response funding into one bill, as the Covid money remains tied up over a dispute about a controversial border policy known as Title 42.

Asked earlier today whether he thought the two proposals should be linked in one bill, Biden said, “I don’t care how they do it. I’m sending them both up. They can do it separately or together, but we need them both.”

Joe Biden is now meeting with small business owners to “discuss the small businesses boom under his leadership,” per his official schedule.

The president was joined at the White House meeting by Isabella Casillas Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration.

“These enterprises and entrepreneurs know the American economy is strong because America’s small businesses are strong,” Biden said at the start of the meeting.

In an instance of rather bad timing, the meeting came hours after the commerce department reported the US economy contracted in the first quarter of 2022, marking its worst performance since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

At the meeting, Biden once again attacked Republican Senator Rick Scott’s plan to raise income taxes for millions of Americans, a proposal that has divided Scott’s own party and become a Democratic punching bag.

“It’s just not right,” Biden said. “Our administration wants to make it easier to start a business, easier for a small business to succeed.”

Nancy Pelosi said she expected a “strong, bipartisan vote” in the House to approve the next Ukraine aid bill, which Joe Biden has requested.

“The assistance appropriated by Congress has made a significant difference for Ukraine, but much more is needed to fight back against Putin’s brutal aggression,” the Democratic House speaker said in a statement.

“The forthcoming supplemental package will deliver critical funding including for more defensive systems and weaponry, support for Ukraine’s energy and healthcare infrastructure, and food assistance to address a growing hunger crisis around the globe stemming from this conflict.”

Biden has asked Congress to approve another $33bn in assistance to Ukraine, including $20bn in military funding and $3bn in humanitarian relief.

“The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” Biden said at the White House earlier today.

Joe Biden reiterated his message that Russia is the aggressor in Ukraine, even as the Kremlin tries to villainize the West over its efforts to aid Ukraine.

“Despite the disturbing rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin, the facts are plain for all to see: We are not attacking Russia,” Biden said on Twitter.

“We are helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression. And just as Putin chose to launch this brutal invasion, he could make the choice to end it.”

Earlier today, Biden asked Congress to approve another $33bn in aid to Ukraine, including $20bn in military funding. Russia has warned the US to stop providing arms to Ukraine, but the White House has remained firm in its commitment to helping its ally.

US FDA moves forward with proposal to ban menthol cigarettes

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued a long-awaited proposal to ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.

The move is a major victory for anti-smoking advocates but one that could dent sales at tobacco companies.

The proposal, which comes a year after the agency announced the plan, still needs to be finalized and can take years to implement as it is likely to face stiff opposition from the tobacco industry. “The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said the health and human services secretary, Xavier Becerra, Reuters reported.

For decades, menthol cigarettes have been in the crosshairs of anti-smoking groups who have argued that they contribute to disproportionate health burdens on Black communities and play a role in luring young people into smoking.

‘I hope we’ll get through this’: the Ukrainian refugees arriving in Tijuana

In recent weeks Mexico has been the second-to-last stop on a journey to a semblance of normal life for some Ukrainian families hoping to get to safety in the United States. The Guardian has published a dispatch from Tijuana by Jo Napolitano who writes:

Just over the zigzag pathway of the Tijuana border crossing, a mile or so from the taco and churros stands that feed locals and tourists alike, rests a pop-up encampment for Ukrainian and Russian refugees fleeing an invasion they could neither endure nor support.

Tijuana has been a two- or three-day respite on their journey before trying to enter the US. There, these displaced families – a flight away from Washington state or Illinois or South Carolina – are fanning out across the country, staying with friends and relatives, applying for food stamps and social security cards and enrolling their children in school. While they are far further in their relocation than the Mexican, Central American and Haitian asylum seekers waiting years for that same opportunity, these newcomers still face many hurdles.

“Everything is so different here in the US,” said Anastasiia Puzhalina, a Ukrainian refugee who arrived in the States in early April with her family. “We must learn so much. I hope we’ll get through this.”

The piece is published in partnership with the the 74, a non-profit, non-partisan news site covering education in America.

NAACP calls on Biden to cancel all student debt

“President Biden, we agree that we shouldn’t cancel $50,000 in student loan debt. We should cancel all of it,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement came after the president told reporters he was open to cancelling some debt but poured cold water on the $50,000 number. “$50,000 was just the bottom line. For the Black community, who’ve accumulated debt over generations of oppression, anything less is unacceptable,” the NAACP said.

The NAACP has a petition calling on Biden to take action to cancel student debt, which it says would :

• Provide Black borrowers with opportunities to pursue homeownership
• Develop economy-boosting discretionary income
• Fuel upward mobility in the Black community and equitable efforts to close the racial wealth gap

Here’s where the day stands so far:

• Joe Biden asked Congress to provide Ukraine with another $33bn in funding to assist its fight against Russian aggression. The request includes another $20bn in military aid, as well as $8.5bn in economic aid to Kyiv and $3bn in humanitarian relief. “The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen,” Biden said at the White House today.
• Biden emphasized America’s ongoing assistance to Ukraine should not be taken as an attack on Russia. “We’re not attacking Russia. We’re helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression,” Biden said. “Russia is the aggressor — no ifs, ands or buts about it.” Russia has warned the US against providing Ukraine with more weaponry, but the White House has insisted it will continue to aid its ally.
• The US economy shrank in the first three months of the year, contracting by -0.4% in the first quarter, marking its weakest performance since the early days of the pandemic. Biden blamed the contraction on “technical factors” caused by the ongoing pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.

Unrelated to the war in Ukraine, Joe Biden was asked whether he plans to cancel more student loan debt via executive order in the coming weeks.

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said yesterday that the White House is “more open to it now than ever before” when it comes to canceling student loan debt.

“There’s nothing done yet, but I am really hopeful that the goal that we have had, $50,000 of student loans canceled, is getting more and more likely,” Schumer said, per NBC News.