The US government is open for business at the cost of Ukraine aid. Semafor’s Jordan Weissmann explains how we got here. And White House communications director Ben LaBolt explains how the Biden administration is justifying the compromise. This episode was produced by Jon Ehrens and Miles Bryan with an assist from Siona Peterous, edited by Miranda Kennedy, fact checked by Amanda Lewellyn and Laura Bullard, and engineered by Patrick Boyd and Rob Byers. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices