For months, MAGA lawmakers in both the House and Senate have been able to stop more U.S. aid going to Ukraine by pretending to be negotiating in good faith. Now, responsible lawmakers in both chambers are finally realizing that obstructionism is not a means to an end for the MAGA crowd it is their end. To get national security funding done or anything else in Congress leaders in both parties must work against or around them, not with them.
On Thursday, the Senate began debating a national security emergency supplemental bill that includes about $60 billion related to Ukraine and another $35 billion for Israel, the Indo-Pacific and to replenish U.S. weapons stocks. This bill was delayed for four months because House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and his MAGA allies insisted they would support Ukraine aid only in conjunction with a deal to address the border. But then Johnson and the MAGA crowd (prodded by former president Donald Trump) came out against that border deal even before it was released a sure indication their demand for concessions was merely a delay tactic.
After the border-related provisions were jettisoned, 17 Senate Republicans voted with Senate Democrats Thursday to move forward with the rest of the package. In the Senate, at least, there are still Republicans willing to put national security over politics when the stakes are so high. The delays have already caused critical ammunition shortages for Ukrainian forces in the fight. We cannot abandon these allies and partners as they face existential threats, Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) said before the vote.
But that rare moment of political courage masks a cold reality: House Republicans have shown no sign of having similar backbone. Johnson wont even commit to bringing the Senate bill to the House floor. He is under pressure from MAGA lawmakers and outside conservative groups to permanently stop the Ukraine aid effort.
Until now, Johnson has walked a fine line: professing to be open to passing Ukraine aid while doing everything possible to avoid actually doing anything about it. For four months, his excuse was to point to the Senates inaction. Then last week, just before the Senate bill was unveiled, he showed his true intentions by introducing a bill that would provide aid for Israel, but not Ukraine.
Johnson argued that Israel aid was more urgent than Ukraine aid (it isnt). He even enlisted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to pressure lawmakers to vote yes. But the White House and many Democrats called out Johnsons ploy for what it was a way to delay and perhaps kill any effort to pass Ukraine aid.
If this bill were to become law, there is no path to support Ukraine, House Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro (Conn.) said Tuesday on the House floor. Although 46 Democrats did vote for the Israel-only aid legislation, it failed to get enough support to advance.
Now, the House leadership is telling other GOP members that it will not take up the Senate national security package as is, several congressional officials told me. Johnson might break up the Senate package into three parts and pass only the sections that he and the MAGA crowd likes. He might write his own Ukraine aid bill, which could have significantly less aid.
Some Republicans believe Johnson feels he must change the bill in some way to save face with the MAGA crowd and then he would be willing to pass it. Under this theory, Johnson wants to pass the aid but needs political cover to get it done. However, once he starts tinkering with it, he opens a legislative Pandoras box that could delay the funding for weeks if not months. That would be too late for Ukraine.
Johnsons team are not even going to try to pass the bill the Senate sends over. They are scared of MTG, one GOP congressional source told me, referring to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) who has worked for years to kill Ukraine aid and who has referred to Ukrainian forces as a Nazi army. In fact, they dont really have the political incentive to do anything quickly.
In the face of this, Ukraine supporters have begun discussing ways to force the Senate bill to the House floor. One method under discussion is something called a discharge petition, which could initiate a floor vote without the speakers cooperation. These types of legislative maneuvers are tricky and rare, but they might be the only way to get the aid package to the presidents desk.
National-security-minded Democrats and Republicans must move quickly to pass the full funding through both chambers, using whatever maneuvers it takes. If MAGA obstructionism continues to go unchecked, Congresss impotence will have negative consequences far beyond the Ukrainian battlefield.
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Opinion | Ukraine supporters need to find a way around the MAGA obstructionists - The Washington Post