What the US public thinks about more aid for Ukraine

The issue of military aid to Ukraine is still gridlocked in the US Congress, with Republicans refusing to support additional spending on arms for Ukraine, despite extensive lobbying by President Joe Biden.

The Senate’s Democrat majority leader, Chuck Schumer, has said: “The survival of Ukraine is on the line” – something reinforced by reports that the Ukrainian army is running low on ammunition.

The problem is this issue has become embroiled in an argument about funding for increased controls on the border with Mexico, in response to the rising number of illegal immigrants crossing into the US. The Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has made this an issue and he has been urged on by ex-president Donald Trump.

Despite further attempts to get the foreign aid and borders bill through Congress this week, Senate Republicans blocked the deal, including the new border measures. These involve an expedited asylum processing time, from years to six months, and raising the standard of proof for an asylum claim.

Also included is a measure to restrict crossings if migrant levels reach 4,000 over a one-week period. Attempts to strip aid for Ukraine out of the combined bill, being led by Schumer, are due back for discussion in the Senate this week.

What the polls say

Polling in late 2023 by the Pew Research Center (below) suggested there is a short-term political advantage for the Republicans in combining the two issues. The Pew survey indicated that Republican voters are much more likely to think Ukraine has received too much aid from the US than Democrats or Americans in general.

Is the US providing too much aid to Ukraine?

In a Gallup survey from November 2023, some 44% of independents, who are the