The United States House of Representatives on Dec. 10 approved a new $900 billion defense spending bill that includes military aid to Ukraine.
The bill upholds many of U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security policies but places limits on his ability to reduce American troops in Europe and withhold support to Kyiv.
The bill reauthorizes the use of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a Pentagon-led program that supplies arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies. It stipulates that Ukraine will receive $400 million per year via the USAI for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
The legislation bars the Pentagon from reducing the number of troops “permanently stationed in or deployed” to Europe below 76,000 for longer than 45 days.
It also requires the Defense Department to notify Congress within 48 hours of any decision to restrict intelligence sharing with Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S. Olha Stefanishyna.
The bill received bipartisan support, passing in a 312-112 vote. It will next advance to the Senate, where it is also expected to win bipartisan approval.
Trump has not allocated any new defense aid packages under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) — a tool frequently used by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Instead, the administration is selling arms to Ukraine via NATO partners, using the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).
In his latest push to secure a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, Trump has repeatedly stressed that the U.S. is not paying for the war to continue, but rather profiting off weapons sales to NATO.
“You know, we’re not spending any money in Ukraine,” he told reporters in the White House on Dec. 10 when asked about the progress of the negotiations.
“We’re selling equipment, basically missiles and everything else, to NATO, and NATO’s paying us and then they distribute to who they want, I guess they’re mostly distributing to Ukraine. But we’re not spending money.”
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