| The House on Wednesday approved a long-term spending bill and an emergency aid package for Ukraine but faced unexpected drama as Democrats stripped out proposed COVID-19 relief funding that stirred a budgetary uprising in key states. Early on Wednesday, top negotiators announced after months of discussions a deal on a $1.5 trillion spending agreement that will keep the government’s lights on through the end of September. The deal, coupled with nearly $14 billion in humanitarian and military aid for Ukraine, was set to pass early on Wednesday, allowing House Democrats to travel to Philadelphia for their annual retreat (The Associated Press). However, the vote was delayed over a snag as House Democrats railed against how the funding proposal would pay for the $15 billion in COVID-19 relief funds sought by the White House. As The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Aris Folley detail, the pandemic relief money would have been offset by clawing back unspent money sent to certain states as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill signed by President Biden exactly one year ago. Lawmakers from those states threatened to hold up the bill’s passage, forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to yank it from the bill entirely (Politico). “Because of Republican insistence — and the resistance by a number of our Members to making those offsets — we will go back to the Rules Committee to remove COVID funding and accommodate the revised bill,” Pelosi wrote in a note to her colleagues. “We must proceed with the omnibus today, which includes emergency funding for Ukraine and urgent funding to meet the needs of America’s families.” The final bills passed the House late on Wednesday. The House first voted 361-69 to back funding for the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security and other national security items, and then 260-171, with one Democrat voting “present,” to advance the provisions largely related to domestic programs (The Hill). Lawmakers also passed a stopgap spending measure until Tuesday in case problems arise before Friday with the final package and a government shutdown cannot be averted. The Hill: House overwhelmingly passes bill banning Russian oil imports, authorizing sanctions. The New York Times: Uncertainty for Biden’s COVID-19 plan after aid is dropped from spending bill. The Hill: Russian invasion scrambles Democrats' agenda. Politico: House Democrats park in Philadelphia bruised by potholes. The 2,700-page omnibus spending package is expected to be passed by the Senate ahead of Friday’s deadline to avert a government shutdown. However, the legislation also represents the end of an era in the upper chamber. As The Hill’s Alexander Bolton notes, it’s likely the last omnibus spending bill that will be cobbled together by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) and committee ranking member Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), two retiring senators who have mastered the art of directing funds to their home states. Politico: Democratic-led Congress keeps ban on Washington, D.C., weed. The U.S. taxpayer assistance for Ukraine was seen as good news on Wednesday, even as the horrors of war mounted and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared determined to target civilians in an effort to control Ukraine. There are mass graves in the outskirts of port city Mariupol (pictured below) into which corpses of civilians, bagged in black plastic or wrapped in cloth, have been piled and covered in dirt. Ukraine accused Russian forces of bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol on Wednesday, allegedly killing three people and injuring 17 amid heavy structural damage (The Associated Press). Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said today, “We will definitely ask our military because, of course, we don’t have clear information on what happened there,” the Interfax news agency reported. 
© Associated Press/Evgeniy Maloletka Ukraine continued to try to establish cease-fires with Russian troops to help escaping civilians, with little success. The Associated Press reported that Russian aircraft bombed Zhytomyr, a city of 260,000 to the west of Kyiv, on Wednesday evening, while artillery fire continued pounding the suburbs of Kyiv and Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. When darkness fell, Russian artillery again began shelling some Kyiv suburbs. Among mounting Ukrainian casualties: children. The challenges in Ukraine include the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which Russian forces disconnected from the plant’s power supply on Wednesday, according to an operator. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a cease-fire to allow safety repairs at the plant (The Hill). An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday, said the country was open to discussing armed neutrality but would cede no territory to Russia. Analysts again pondered whether Ukraine, to appease Russia, might try to resolve the conflict by becoming “neutral” as a nation, akin to Switzerland (The Washington Post). Representatives of EU member states are meeting today at Versailles outside Paris and are expected to discuss Ukraine’s appeal to join the bloc. Vice President Harris today has begun her meetings in Poland to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people, including millions of refugees there (The Hill and The Associated Press). The Biden administration is opposed to a proposed fighter jet deal with Poland to help Ukraine (The Hill); U.S. resistance expressed on Tuesday was repeated on Wednesday with a firm Pentagon “no.” During Harris’s meeting today with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, he praised the United States for its “brave decision of being independent of Russian oil.” Morawiecki described Russian energy profits as “money for their war machine, so to say.” The European Union said Wednesday it planned to ratchet up sanctions on Russian individuals and banks in Belarus that serve Russia (Reuters). The United Kingdom froze the assets of Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich and six other Russian oligarchs. To ensure Chelsea soccer operations can continue, the government said it issued the club a license permitting play, including in a Premier League match tonight (The New York Times). U.S. officials continued to discuss America’s boycott of Russian petroleum, natural gas and coal announced on Tuesday. The average price of gas nationally for U.S. consumers hit a new high of about $4.25 per gallon on Wednesday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he welcomed support for increased oil production by the United Arab Emirates to fill gaps in supply (The Hill). U.S. officials have demanded Venezuela supply at least a portion of oil exports to the United States as part of any agreement to ease oil trading sanctions, Reuters reported. 
© Associated Press/Eric Gay Financial markets gyrated on Wednesday, offering glimmers of better news for consumers and some investors, at least for a few hours. Higher oil prices fell in afternoon trading, giving stocks an extra boost. West Texas Intermediate crude prices fell more than 12 percent at nearly $109 per barrel. Prices for Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, plummeted 13 percent for the largest one-day drop since April 2020 (CNBC). The Wall Street Journal: Trading remains volatile. Oil prices jump and stock futures fall. “Ferocious rebound” was a phrase U.S. analysts used Wednesday to describe a global stocks recovery, the largest surge since 2020 (Yahoo News). The changes erased some losses since the outset of Russia’s attacks. Niall Stanage, The Memo: Rising gasoline prices in the United States have revived bipartisan debate about energy sources. The Hill and The New York Times: Major companies are exiting Russia. It’s being called a “retail exodus.” 💸 The State Department’s Office of Global Partnerships said on Wednesday that those who want to donate to help Ukrainians during the war can visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/ukraine-humanitarian-fund for ideas. On social media, donors are encouraged to include the campaign’s website and the hashtag #UnitedWithUkraine, the State Department adds. For updates: https://www.state.gov/united-with-ukraine/ or follow @GPatState on Twitter. | 
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