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More than two dozen Senate Republicans demand Biden do more for Ukraine after voting against $13.6 billion for Ukraine

cigaretteman

HR King
May 29, 2001
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More than two dozen Senate Republicans are demanding that President Biden do more to aid war-torn Ukraine and arm its forces against Russia’s brutal assault, after voting last week against $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.

Consider Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who heard Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s emotional plea in a virtual address to Congress on Wednesday for more weapons and a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
“President Biden needs to make a decision TODAY: either give Ukraine access to the planes and antiaircraft defense systems it needs to defend itself, or enforce a no-fly zone to close Ukrainian skies to Russian attacks,” Scott said in a statement. “If President Biden does not do this NOW, President Biden will show himself to be absolutely heartless and ignorant of the deaths of innocent Ukrainian children and families.”



Last week, Scott was one of 31 Republicans to vote against a sweeping, $1.5 trillion spending bill to fund government agencies and departments through the remainder of the fiscal year, a bill that also included $13.6 billion in assistance for Ukraine. Biden signed the bill into law Tuesday, saying the United States was “moving urgently to further augment the support to the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country.”

After casting a “no” vote, Scott assailed the overall spending bill as wasteful, arguing that it was filled with lawmakers’ pet projects. “It makes my blood boil,” Scott said last week.
Democrats quickly condemned what they saw as glaring hypocrisy among the Republicans who voted against the aid but were quick to criticize Biden as a commander in chief leading from behind in addressing Ukraine’s needs.



“‘We should send more lethal aid to Ukraine which I voted against last week’ is making my brain melt,” tweeted Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).





In a speech to Congress on March 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again asked for a no-fly zone to protect against Russia’s attacks. (Drea Cornejo/The Washington Post)
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has highlighted divisions in the Republican Party on U.S. involvement overseas and the standing of the NATO alliance. For decades, during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, the GOP embraced a hawkish view, with robust military spending and certainty about coming to the aid of allies.
President Donald Trump’s “America First” outlook and efforts to undermine NATO, including questioning why the military alliance even existed, secured a foothold in the GOP, reflected in the response of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to Ukraine. In a video Wednesday, Greene blamed both Russia and Ukraine, and warned against U.S. intervention. Biden has said repeatedly that he would not send U.S. troops to fight.



Potential 2024 presidential candidates such as Scott have been highly critical of Biden, who also announced Wednesday that the Pentagon was sending nearly $1 billion in military equipment to Ukraine, including 800 Stinger antiaircraft systems, 100 drones, 25,000 helmets and more than 20 million rounds of small-arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds.
In early February, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), another possible White House candidate, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggesting that the United States would be worse off if Ukraine were admitted to NATO, the military alliance of 30 mainly Western countries — including the United States — bound by a mutual defense treaty, and argued that the United States should instead focus on countering China.
Hawley, who voted against the spending bill with billions for Ukraine, said Wednesday that Biden needs to “step up” and send MiG jet fighters and other weapons to Ukraine, accusing the administration of “dragging its feet.”



The Pentagon has rebuffed Poland’s offer to send MiG fighter jets to Ukraine amid fears of further escalation involving a NATO country.
In a statement Thursday, Hawley said, “Aid for Ukraine should not be held hostage to the Democrats’ pet projects and I did not support the massive $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill stuffed with billions in earmarks.”
Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee who also voted against the spending bill, told MSNBC on Thursday that the United States “can do more” for Ukraine.
“There were all sorts of particular ways where the administration yesterday said a lot of the right things, but just because the pen was in President Biden’s hand yesterday doesn’t mean that weapons are in Zelensky’s hands today. And at every point we’re too slow, and it feels like a huge part of the administration’s audience is internal lawyers, and they do these offensive and defensive legal-hairsplitting arguments,” Sasse said.



On the Senate floor Thursday, Sasse argued that the spending bill wasn’t “really about Ukrainian aid,” but a “whole bunch of schlock.”
“Ukrainian aid was a little bit of sugar on the larger medicine of a $1.5 trillion bill that nobody would actually want to go home and to defend to the voters, and to the taxpayers of America, as well thought out,” he said.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) countered that the only way to deliver aid to Ukraine and massive legislation is through compromise.
“Inside every piece of legislation are elements that many of us disagree with,” Murphy said. “Inside that budget that you voted against are all sorts of things that I disagree with. But in the end, in order to govern the country, you have to be able to find a path to compromise.”

Schatz, in an interview with The Washington Post after the exchange between Sasse and Murphy, said the vote in favor of the aid was an “easy” one.


“It’s very simple: If you don’t vote for the thing, you’re not for the thing,” Schatz said. “That is literally our job, to decide whether we are for or against things as a binary question.”
“So you don’t get to say: ‘Even though I voted against Ukraine aid, that I’m actually for it, and here’s my explanation,’” Schatz added, arguing that Republicans were trying to have it both ways by maintaining their fidelity to Trump — who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin — and become “Zelensky fans” at the same time.

“They voted to exonerate Trump for this specific reason, which was to withhold aid from Zelensky, and here they are again, opposing aid to Zelensky,” Schatz said. “So now they’re doing it twice. They’re still acting as if they’re defenders of Western-style democracy.”
The day before voting against the bill, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), another possible presidential candidate, posted on Twitter about the need to come to Ukraine’s aid. “Helping Ukraine defend itself against a ruthless dictator is in our best interest,” he tweeted.


Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) tweeted a clip declaring the importance of assisting Ukraine. “It’s not much of a deterrent when the assistance you provide comes after the invasion,” he wrote. “We need to have President Zelensky’s back and expedite aid to Ukraine.”

Hours later, Cramer voted against the spending bill.
Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) tweeted a clip the day he voted against the bill of him speaking to the need to give Ukraine more aircraft.
“The Ukrainian people and President Zelensky are fighting well above their weight, but they need planes,” he said on Fox News. “He made that very clear to us on the phone Saturday.”
“Give the man his planes,” Kennedy added.



 
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, was widely mocked when he called Russia the “number one geopolitical foe” during a debate with President Barack Obama, a remark that in hindsight seems prescient.


Romney, like other Republicans, has pressed Biden to send more aid to Ukraine. He also voted against the spending bill with billions for the country.
Romney said that while he “strongly” supports providing aid to Ukrainians, he “ultimately could not support the rest of this bloated spending bill for the aforementioned reasons.”
“Forcing us to swallow the bad to get the good is concerning, unsustainable, and no way to govern over the long term,” he said.
In a statement to The Post Thursday, Romney added that he has “and will strongly support aid for Ukraine” and that he “called for a stand-alone bill to get a vote on Monday, four days sooner than the omnibus did.”
Romney and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) are separately leading an effort with 40 of their Senate GOP colleagues to urge Biden to work with Poland and other NATO allies to expedite the transfer of aircraft and air-defense systems to Ukraine. Of those 40 Republicans, 25 voted against the aid package.



Congress calls for increased aid to Ukraine after Zelensky address







Lawmakers called for increasing military aid from the United States to Ukraine after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Congress on March 16. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post)
While increasing domestic spending and keeping the government open, the sweeping spending bill also increased spending for the U.S. military by 5.6 percent, totaling $762 billion. The bill includes a 2.7 percent pay increase for all active-duty troops.
Several Republicans were critical of Ukraine in 2017, when Trump began spreading a conspiracy theory that it was Ukraine — and not Russia — that interfered with the 2016 election. Two years later, Democrats accused Trump of leveraging military assistance and an Oval Office meeting with Zelensky in exchange for investigations of Biden and his son Hunter Biden, and the debunked theory alleging Ukrainian interference in the election.
The House impeached Trump; the Senate acquitted him on charges that he abused the powers of his office and obstructed Congress. All the Senate Republicans except Romney voted for acquittal.
Sen. Mazie Hirano (D-Hawaii) told the Post Thursday that Republican lawmakers arguing for more aid for Ukraine days after voting against a bill to provide assistance is “the height of hypocrisy.”
“Some of them will find every way they can to criticize Joe Biden,” Hirono said. “And I think it’s more than ironic that the president that they continue to support withheld aid to Ukraine for political purposes.”
As several of these Republicans who voted against the bill criticized Biden, one Republican pointed to the disconnect.
Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who voted for the bill, advised his party to stop sending “mixed messages” and lamented that the spending bill with nearly $14 billion for Ukraine didn’t pass the Senate 100-0, according to Politico.
And on Thursday, Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, tweeted that the was “grateful” to the United States, which he described as Ukraine’s “reliable partner.”
“[Biden] does more for [Ukraine] than any of his predecessors,” Yermak tweeted.
 
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How can anybody be stupid enough to keep voting Republican? They have zero solutions, get in the way of actual solution, then either take credit for stuff they voted against or crap like this which is voting against stuff then complaining that nothing is getting done.
 
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), the GOP’s 2012 presidential nominee, was widely mocked when he called Russia the “number one geopolitical foe” during a debate with President Barack Obama, a remark that in hindsight seems prescient.

Romney, like other Republicans, has pressed Biden to send more aid to Ukraine. He also voted against the spending bill with billions for the country.
Romney was wrong in 2012 and he's still wrong.

If he had made that claim a couple of weeks ago it might have sounded right (until you remembered that China exists), but now that we are seeing how weak Russia's military is, who would make that claim today?

Shit happens, so maybe Russia will prove their metal in the coming weeks or months. But that still doesn't change the fact that China exists.
 
How can anybody be stupid enough to keep voting Republican? They have zero solutions, get in the way of actual solution, then either take credit for stuff they voted against or crap like this which is voting against stuff then complaining that nothing is getting done.

To be fair I'm not seeing the hypocrisy in this when looked at on the whole.

You are talking about a 1.5 trillion dollar spending bill of which 13.6 billion (less then 1%) is being spent on Ukraine.
You can't point to a portion of the bill that makes up less than 1% of the total spending and say Republicans are implicitly against that because they didn't want to go along with the other 1.486.4 trillion dollar spend.

Now the hypocrisy from earlier about bragging to their constituents about infrastructure money coming to the state after they voted against the infrastructure bill absolutely holds water. But this doesn't.
 
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To be fair I'm not seeing the hypocrisy in this when looked at on the whole.

You are talking about a 1.5 trillion dollar spending bill of which 13.6 billion (less then 1%) is being spent on Ukraine.
You can't point to a portion of the bill that makes up less than 1% of the total spending and say Republicans are implicitly against that because they didn't want to go along with the other 1.486.4 trillion dollar spend.

Now the hypocrisy from earlier about bragging to their constituents about infrastructure money coming to the state after they voted against the infrastructure bill absolutely holds water. But this doesn't.
Of course it counts. The Rs still refuse to do any actual legislating whether this is part of a bigger bill or not. It's sick and sad to vote against Ukraine aid, then turn right around and use your nay vote as political fodder that nothing is getting done.
 
They voted against a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. The $13.6 billion for Ukraine represented 0.9% of the spending bill they voted against. Let's put an aid bill for Ukraine that is just an aid bill for Ukraine up for a vote and see who supports it.

I agree with you but this game of tying in something no one could oppose to spending bills that are extremely controversial in other areas is the oldest trick in the book and it's used by both parties to give themselves material for their political ads.
 
They voted against a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. The $13.6 billion for Ukraine represented 0.9% of the spending bill they voted against. Let's put an aid bill for Ukraine that is just an aid bill for Ukraine up for a vote and see who supports it.
Fine, but then don't go to the nearest camera and start crying about how Biden isn't doing enough. There's a way to explain your no vote without sounding like a hypocritical baby. In fact, agreeing with Biden about needing to help Ukraine, and then blaming Democrats in Congress for all the extra spending (and then point out some examples of that spending) would actually make them sound invested in helping Ukraine while fighting the issue they claim to be fighting.

Of course, Republicans really don't have any credibility when it comes to budget issues so maybe that's why they don't even pretend to be trying about it and just let Fox news do their campaigning for them.
 
They voted against a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. The $13.6 billion for Ukraine represented 0.9% of the spending bill they voted against. Let's put an aid bill for Ukraine that is just an aid bill for Ukraine up for a vote and see who supports it.
Now the hypocrisy from earlier about bragging to their constituents about infrastructure money coming to the state after they voted against the infrastructure bill absolutely holds water. But this doesn't.
This.
 
Of course it counts. The Rs still refuse to do any actual legislating whether this is part of a bigger bill or not. It's sick and sad to vote against Ukraine aid, then turn right around and use your nay vote as political fodder that nothing is getting done.

They are the minority party . . . they can't draft legislation and expect to have it see the floor.

And again they voted against a 1.5 trillion dollar bill of which less then 1% is spent on Ukraine. They did not vote against a stand alone 13.6 billion for Ukraine.

It's an old political trick that is being used so that the politicians have fodder for their campaign ads. This simply isn't a case of hypocrisy. It's a case of politicians tying something that few are against into a bill with massive load of stuff that is more controversial.
 
I agree with you but this game of tying in something no one could oppose to spending bills that are extremely controversial in other areas is the oldest trick in the book and it's used by both parties to give themselves material for their political ads.
But the omnibus isn't controversial. It only proves my larger point that the Rs refuse to legislate. Whether it's Ukraine aid or necessary goverment spending, the Rs only get in the way.
 
Fine, but then don't go to the nearest camera and start crying about how Biden isn't doing enough. There's a way to explain your no vote without sounding like a hypocritical baby. In fact, agreeing with Biden about needing to help Ukraine, and then blaming Democrats in Congress for all the extra spending (and then point out some examples of that spending) would actually make them sound invested in helping Ukraine while fighting the issue they claim to be fighting.

Of course, Republicans really don't have any credibility when it comes to budget issues so maybe that's why they don't even pretend to be trying about it and just let Fox news do their campaigning for them.

I think my question for Republicans is what more do they want him to do. We're already sending them a ton of weapons and supplies. . . And most Republicans don't seem to want to send the US military in to assist Ukraine in any way.

That's my issue with Republicans complaining about Biden in this. But I also take issue with Dems claiming their vote against a 1.5 trillion dollar bill is a vote against Ukraine when less then 1% of the 1.5 trillion dollar bill actually goes to help Ukraine.
 
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Incredible dishonesty in the article and OP.

Last week, Scott was one of 31 Republicans to vote against a sweeping, $1.5 trillion spending bill to fund government agencies and departments through the remainder of the fiscal year, a bill that also included $13.6 billion in assistance for Ukraine.

No aid for Ukraine should be blamed on Dems 100%.

Why not just create a single bill for Ukraine aid and see how many vote against it then? Because they know it would pass the Dems couldn't use it to beat the GOP over the head with. Dems do this shit all the time. Put something they deem important attached to a monstrosity no on in their right mind would vote for then cry that they voted against that one small rider. BAU.
 
But the omnibus isn't controversial. It only proves my larger point that the Rs refuse to legislate. Whether it's Ukraine aid or necessary goverment spending, the Rs only get in the way.

There is no way the Dems wrote a 1.5 trillion dollar spending bill that isn't controversial and doesn't spend a large amount of money on their pet projects. It would be the same thing if the Republicans wrote a 1.5 trillion dollar bill . . . they would spend a large amount of money on their own pet projects.
 
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Incredible dishonesty in the article and OP.

Last week, Scott was one of 31 Republicans to vote against a sweeping, $1.5 trillion spending bill to fund government agencies and departments through the remainder of the fiscal year, a bill that also included $13.6 billion in assistance for Ukraine.

No aid for Ukraine should be blamed on Dems 100%.

Why not just create a single bill for Ukraine aid and see how many vote against it then? Because they know it would pass the Dems couldn't use it to beat the GOP over the head with. Dems do this shit all the time. Put something they deem important attached to a monstrosity no on in their right mind would vote for then cry that they voted against that one small rider. BAU.

Both sides do that. This trick is as old as the hills and is used by whichever party is in control.

But outside of that you are correct.
 
There is no way the Dems wrote a 1.5 trillion dollar spending bill that isn't controversial and doesn't spend a large amount of money on their pet projects. It would be the same thing if the Republicans wrote a 1.5 trillion dollar bill . . . they would spend a large amount of money on their own pet projects.
So it's only controversial because the Rs want it that way.
 
It's controversial if the parties disagree on it.

They didn't vote against it just to hand the Dems campaign material.
This proves my point that the Rs don't care about solutions. It's not the content of the bill that the Rs oppose but the win it would give the Dems. Their motives are purely political.
 
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This proves my point that the Rs don't care about solutions. It's not the content of the bill that the Rs oppose but the win it would give the Dems. Their motives are purely political.

I disagree. . . I might say that about some Republicans but Romney voted against this and if he voted against it I trust he has a reason other than to troll the libs. I might not fully agree with the reason but he has earned my trust as the Republican to vote to remove Donald Trump twice and a guy that voted for the infrastructure bill that he has his reasons for voting no.

But I am not so much a Democrat as I am anti-Donald Trump.
 
Full page ad in today's Gazette taken out by Mike Franken:

OPEN LETTER ON UKRAINE TO PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN Dear Joe: Please forgive the lack of formality, but I write this to Joe Biden, the man, who said, “We are living through a battle for the soul of this nation.” Today we know – you better than anyone – that we are now fighting a battle for the soul of all nations, especially democratic nations. I know you to be a man who has deep moral beliefs and an abiding compassion for others, learned from your own experiences. My life experiences are similar – bootstrap upbringing, big family, hard work, deaths in the family, and a career in public service. That is why I write today. We learned to care just as much for people we’ve never met as for those we know. We need to turn that caring into action. Mr. President – Joe – the Ukrainian people need us. We can and need to do more. Putin threatens nuclear war, but he is not seeking it. Putin’s failure to turn his dictatorship into an economic juggernaut necessitates his craven actions. Russians know this. It is a nation of rich resources, yet yields an economy less than the state of Texas. Why? Bad policies, Putin’s greed and that of his fawning oligarchs. It’s what dictators do. They steal from the soul of the nation, lash out at superior democracies, and forcibly take what isn’t theirs. As flawed as democracy may be, “we the people, in order to create a more perfect union,” our founders knew that the alternative is a dictatorship fueled by extremism, pillage, and violence. Democracy is about opportunity, growth, equality, and compassion. Importantly, we come together as a community to act. Dear sir, we need to act on behalf of Ukraine, the people of Eurasia, and democracy everywhere. This is not the act of vengeance that led to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, this is an existential fight for the freedom of every representative government on the planet. America needs to be a part of this; America needs to lead this. I respect that others advise caution. I was in that camp, as well. But I think you know that now is the time for courage and leadership. You have shown us both courage and leadership in the massive challenges you have faced in the last year as President. Keep sharing your heart and courage for the goodwill of the country. It’s what the majority of Americans love most about you. We need you to do what you do best, Joe. Godspeed, take the reins and lead us to become more helpful to the Free Ukraine. Our nation is behind you. With great respect,

Mike Franken, US Navy re
 
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For those of you who don't have e a calculator that allows you to input that many zeros. 13.6 billion is 0.00906666666% of 1.5 trillion.



And the damn thing will get sold as a Ukraine aid bill.
 
Fine, but then don't go to the nearest camera and start crying about how Biden isn't doing enough. There's a way to explain your no vote without sounding like a hypocritical baby. In fact, agreeing with Biden about needing to help Ukraine, and then blaming Democrats in Congress for all the extra spending (and then point out some examples of that spending) would actually make them sound invested in helping Ukraine while fighting the issue they claim to be fighting.

Of course, Republicans really don't have any credibility when it comes to budget issues so maybe that's why they don't even pretend to be trying about it and just let Fox news do their campaigning for them.
The Republicans have done the same thing plenty of times. Doesn’t make it right…just serves as a reminder of how things are done nowadays.
 
I disagree. . . I might say that about some Republicans but Romney voted against this and if he voted against it I trust he has a reason other than to troll the libs. I might not fully agree with the reason but he has earned my trust as the Republican to vote to remove Donald Trump twice and a guy that voted for the infrastructure bill that he has his reasons for voting no.

But I am not so much a Democrat as I am anti-Donald Trump.
2/3rds of that $1.5T goes towards veterans and the military. I just want to point out what Mitt is really voting against.
 
Link but even if true. . . that still leaves 500 billion dollars of taxpayer money.
The real reason why Mitt opposes this is because it raises the capital gains rate. If a Republican administration would have passed this without a capital gains increase Mitt would have been singing its praises.
 
The real reason why Mitt opposes this is because it raises the capital gains rate. If a Republican administration would have passed this without a capital gains increase Mitt would have been singing its praises.
Do you have anything that can validate your claim that 1 trillion dollars of this 1.5 trillion dollar bill will go towards veterans or the military?
 
And Democrats stripped COVID funding from it as well. But weird...they plan on doing a stand alone bill for it. But they wouldn't do that for Ukraine. And you still probably believe they're acting in good faith with all of this bullshit.
 
And Democrats stripped COVID funding from it as well. But weird...they plan on doing a stand alone bill for it. But they wouldn't do that for Ukraine. And you still probably believe they're acting in good faith with all of this bullshit.
Defense got a healthy boost. So did Homeland Security. Republicans got some 700 pet projects fulfilled. This thing is a wishlist for the Rs. Makes you wonder why they shit all over it. I mean we know...
 
Defense got a healthy boost. So did Homeland Security. Republicans got some 700 pet projects fulfilled. This thing is a wishlist for the Rs. Makes you wonder why they shit all over it. I mean we know...
Because they're shitty people. Just like the Dems who stripped the COVID funding.
 
The real reason why Mitt opposes this is because it raises the capital gains rate. If a Republican administration would have passed this without a capital gains increase Mitt would have been singing its praises.

So you admit that he does in fact have his reasons. You and I both disagree with his reasons. . . but he has a reason that isn't to "troll the libs".

See it's not that hard.

If you are looking for congress people to only give reasons you agree with, it wouldn't be called a democracy it would be called a one party state.
 
The Republicans have done the same thing plenty of times. Doesn’t make it right…just serves as a reminder of how things are done nowadays.
I know Republicans do this. That's what I'm saying. Instead of actually trying to govern and solve problems, they just stand in the way of solutions and then complain about nothing getting done. Or completely ignore them when they are in power and complain about how gay people shouldn't be treated like human beings and how we shouldn't talk about how black people have been discriminated against.

And before anyone tries to "both sides" this, Democrats most definitely do not stand in the way of solutions to problems and not have an alternative solution that they like better.
 
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Of course it counts. The Rs still refuse to do any actual legislating whether this is part of a bigger bill or not. It's sick and sad to vote against Ukraine aid, then turn right around and use your nay vote as political fodder that nothing is getting done.
Dems do this on the blood of dead children. All of you rot in hell!
 
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