#Haley rails against lack of Ukraine aid in spending bill, pushes for spending cuts in other areas

Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley railed against the lack of Ukraine aid in Congress’s “clean” stopgap measure brought to the House floor a day earlier and called for spending cuts in other areas.

“The reality is Republicans and Democrats, all of them, have been spending taxpayer dollars in a ridiculous way,” Haley said Sunday on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream. “They just take a budget from last year, add more to it, and keep going. So the false narrative of we can either pay for certain things or Ukraine is wrong.”

Haley was responding to Republican Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), a staunch opponent of further Ukraine aid, who said last week more aid would mean borrowing money from China.

Acknowledging the nation’s debt, Haley, a former United Nations ambassador, also took a jab at her own party’s spending choices.

“We’re $33 trillion in debt, we’re having to borrow money just to make our interest payments, China owns some of that debt,” Haley said. “But…if you’re going to look at that, why don’t we look at the fact that why…Republicans put in 7.4 billion of pet projects and earmarks in the budget and Democrats put in 2.8 billion? Why don’t we look at all the things we don’t need to spend on?”

Arguing the budget needs to start at zero so lawmakers can “work their way up,” Haley said she is pushing for spending caps to avoid overspending and continued borrowing.

Haley has maintained a push for continued funding for the war-torn country throughout her presidential campaign, repeatedly claiming a win for Russia is a win for China.

“The fact that this is actually going to prevent war, the fact that this is only 3.5 percent of our national budget, that 3.5 percent of our national defense budget.” Haley said. “The fact that…this goes back to 11 European countries who are spending more than us. But what is this going to? It’s going to weapons, it’s going to replenish our stockpile. It’s going to make sure Ukraine has what they need. And it’s going to make sure that if they win, this is not another win for Russia or China, but it’s preventing war so that it doesn’t go into Poland and other NATO countries.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Saturday offered a bill to keep the government open that did not include funding for Ukraine, despite the fact that similar legislation in the Senate with Ukraine aid was moving forward.

McCarthy had argued Ukraine aid should not be part of a stopgap measure, and a number of Republicans in the House oppose it. 

In an interview on CBS News on Sunday, McCarthy said he is committed to helping Ukraine, but that addressing the crisis at the border is still a bigger priority.