Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Jack Spear.

The Biden administration says it continues to stand behind Ukraine and will be there as

long as it takes.

That was the message from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, even as the long-planned

Ukrainian counteroffensive moves more slowly than expected.

Briefing reporter Sullivan said war is inherently dynamic, and both Ukraine and Russia

have learned and adjusted their tactics.

At the end of the day, there is a massive difference between planning and reality when

it comes to any conflict, and particularly a conflict as complex as this one.

So Ukrainians are doing it their way, and we're continuing to provide them the tools to

be able to do it, and we'll see where things end up.

The White House has asked Congress for $24 billion dollars in additional funding for Ukraine.

And despite vocal pushback from some congressional Republicans, Sullivan insisted there is a bipartisan

coalition to keep the aid flowing.

Tamer Keith and P.R. News.

More than 170 law professors are warning Congress proposed budget cuts will be devastating

for federal public defenders.

And P.R. Kerry Johnson reports the defenders could be forced to cut hundreds of jobs.

The law professors from some of the country's biggest and most prestigious universities say

the funding proposal for public defenders is a quote, catastrophe.

The professors wrote to appropriations panels in the House and Senate that the federal

public defender system could be underfunded by more than $100 million next year.

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