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1 White House Announces $300-Million In Military Aid For Ukraine
A new aide package for Ukraine has gone nowhere in Congress since the end of last year, but the Biden Administration has found a way to send more to the country. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan outlined the package at a White House press briefing yesterday, saying, “On behalf of President Biden, I’m announcing an emergency package of security assistance of $300-million worth of weapons and equipment to address some of Ukraine’s pressing needs.” Sullivan also said during the briefing that Ukraine “does not have enough ammunition to fire back.” The money for the aide comes from already-funded Pentagon contracts that Sullivan said were negotiated “well,” leaving some savings on the table to be tapped for the package. While the new assistance will be sent to Ukraine without the need for Congressional approval, Sullivan said “this package does not displace and should not delay the critical need to pass the bipartisan national security bill.”
2 Biden And Trump Both Clinched Their Party's Nominations With Yesterday's Primaries
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump crossed the primary “finish line” last night, as both locked in enough delegates to secure their party’s nomination for president. After enough primary ballots were counted last night in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington state, Trump had 1,228 delegates awarded to him of the 1,215 he required to grab the GOP nomination, while Biden has 2,101 of the 1,968 he needed for the Democratic nomination. More than half of the states haven’t held their primaries yet, with congressional candidates still to be determined across the country. The Republican nominee will be officially selected in July at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, while the Democratic nomination will be formally nominated at the Democratic National Convention in August in Chicago.
3 Uvalde Police Chief Resigns After Robb Elementary School Shooting Report
Chief Daniel Rodriguez, the police chief in Uvalde, Texas, announced his resignation yesterday in a statement just days after a City Council report cleared several officers of wrongdoing in the Robb Elementary School shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. “After much contemplation and consideration, I believe it is time for me to embark on a new chapter in my career,” Rodriguez said in the statement, which didn’t address the report of the shooting itself. Assistant Police Chief Homer Delgado will be named the interim chief. At a Uvalde City Council meeting last night that Rodriguez didn’t attend, parents of those killed in the shooting voiced their frustrations over what some called a failure to “give us some d*mn answers.”