Biden is dangling border security money to try to get billions more for Israel and Ukraine

By COLLEEN LONG
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trying to sweeten his pitch for more money for Ukraine by mixing in billions of dollars for securing the U.S.-Mexico border. The idea came up last month, after Ukraine assistance was stripped out of a measure to keep the government running due to growing Republican resistance to financing the war effort. Since then, the House has lost its speaker and Republicans are in disarray, and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel has prompted a much bigger funding request by the White House. It’s not clear that including border money in the proposed spending package will placate those in Congress who are resisting.