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A STORMY DAY ON THE HILL
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent

Two years ago, I pinned a tweet — now called “X posts” — to the top of my account.  
 
It reads: “For those not picking up on it: today is an extra weird day on Capitol Hill.”
 
As we head into what may be brutal end-of-year wrestling matches on the Hill, what’s old is new again. We just had another particularly weird day. Substantive and weird.
 
Ukraine
 
We expected the precarious state of U.S. funding for Ukraine to dominate the day, with talks over the aid to move toward a “do-or-die” state.
 
And indeed, the stormy weather around the issue has become stormier.  
 
This week, the Biden administration wrote to leaders in Congress, warning that it would run out of money to send weapons and other assistance to Ukraine by the end of the year. 
 
Members have debated the president’s request for billions more in aid for weeks. 
 
Per Republicans in the room, House Speaker Mike Johnson told his House colleagues this morning that he is laying down the gauntlet and will reject any Ukrainian aid deal that does not include the conservative border security bill known as H.R. 2.
 
For Democratic senators, that is a non-starter.
 
“They are not talking about changes in asylum policy,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy., told the PBS NewsHour. “They are demanding changes that shut down the border.”
 
Meanwhile, Republican military hawks are leaning into border demands, pointing to what they see as a national security crisis.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who supports Ukraine aid, told us, “If there are not serious reforms at the border to secure the border, we’re not going vote for it.” He started to walk away and added, “We’re not bluffing.”
 
Then, the dramatic turns kept coming.  
 
President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly canceled on senators who were expecting to see him Tuesday, via Zoom, at a classified briefing.  
 
A Ukrainian official told our Nick Schifrin that the cancellation was “due to a difficult situation on the frontline”.
 
Where we are: The Ukrainian president is trying to survive a conventional war on his territory and a political one in the United States. Currently, there is not a clear path forward for any deal to give Ukraine additional funding.
 
Military officers

There were more surprises today.
 
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., announced he is ending his monthslong block on the usual path for military promotions.  
 
Since February, Tuberville has blocked the Senate from passing military promotions in groups, something Senate leaders see as a necessary process for the hundreds of nominees involved. This was a result of Tuberville’s objection to the Pentagon’s policy of paying for travel for service members who, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, have to go out of state for abortion services.
 
Where we are: After nine months with hundreds of military personnel and families waiting, the Senate is now moving nominations of top military brass forward. Senators hope to get most — if not all — of the list approved by Christmas.
 
This was a win for the Pentagon and Senate Democrats who waited out Tuberville.

In the end, he backed down with no change in Pentagon policy. Though, it is not entirely a loss for him. Anti-abortion groups now see him as an ally willing to block some of the highest priority nominations for their cause.