Budget group calls for restraint in Biden's aid package; says it should be narrowly tailored

A budget group called for restraint on Friday after the White House requested more money for Ukraine and Israel.

"We live in dangerous times, and this package includes funding for real emergencies that merit serious consideration," Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a statement. "At the same time, we should avoid worsening our precarious fiscal situation, which weakens our ability to respond to emergencies on an ongoing basis."

The White House requested $106 billion of supplemental spending for the conflicts in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza along with money for border security and other international issues.

The supplement spending request includes $61 billion in aid for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel, including money for air and missile defense, $14 billion for the U.S.-Mexico border, $3 billion for the U.S. submarine industrial base, $2 billion to counter China's financing efforts in developing countries and $10 billion for humanitarian aid in Israel, Ukraine, Gaza and other places, according to the White House.

The money for the southern border includes 1,300 Border Patrol agents, 375 immigration judge teams and 1,600 asylum officers. It further includes more than 100 machines to help detect fentanyl and an additional 1,000 law enforcement personnel, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young said.

MacGuineas said the supplement spending should be narrowly tailored.

"Policymakers should also avoid turning an emergency supplemental bill into a grab-bag of new priorities. Emergency funding should be for provisions that are temporary, necessary, sudden, urgent, and unforeseen," she said. "Policies that don’t meet these criteria should be considered through the regular process and subject to normal budget rules."