House conservatives rip resolution calling for bust to honor Zelensky in Capitol 

House conservatives on Thursday bashed a resolution that called for a bust of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to be installed in the U.S. Capitol to honor the Kyiv leader.  

“Absolutely NOT! We serve AMERICA NOT UKRAINE!” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of the resolution introduced Monday by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.). 

Wilson’s proposal would direct the House Fine Arts Board to obtain a bust of the Ukrainian president and then to find “suitable, permanent location” for the statue in the House side of the U.S. Capitol Complex.

“There is now a House resolution that seeks to put a display of Zelenskyy’s head in the US Capitol. Was the $100+ billion to Ukraine not enough?” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) wrote on Twitter. 

The call for a Zelensky tribute comes just weeks after he made an unprecedented trip to the U.S., his first out of Ukraine since Russia invaded in February, where he met with President Biden in the Oval Office and gave a historic address to a joint session of Congress. 

Days after the visit, Congress passed its massive government funding bill, which included some $45 billion in aid for Ukraine, and the Pentagon pledged another $1.85 billion and the use of the U.S. Patriot missile system to shore up Ukraine’s air defense.   

The House conservatives’ opposition to their fellow Republican’s resolution Thursday highlights tensions within the GOP over how to respond to the Russia-Ukraine war and whether the new GOP-run House will support continued aid to Kyiv. 

Wilson first introduced the resolution to add Zelensky’s bust in March, shortly after the start of the war.