Eight Republicans voted against legislation to revoke normal trade relations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine in a Thursday vote.
The eight were on the other end of a lopsided 424-8 vote to punish Moscow with the removal of normal trade relations. The legislation would raise tariffs on imports from Russia and Belarus, which has backed Moscow’s bombardment of Ukraine.
It would also give President Biden power to impose even stricter taxes on their goods.
The eight GOP “no” votes were Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Thomas Massie (Ky.), Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Glenn Grothman (Wis.) and Chip Roy (Texas).
All eight Republicans in the House who voted against the anti-war measure have made it a point to stand out in the far-right wing of the GOP and have been holding tight to former President Trump as he plots a potential run for president in 2024.
Greene, in a video posted online, said she couldn’t support the U.S. intervention in the war because Americans have more pressing issues.
“If we truly care about suffering and death on our television screens, we cannot fund more of it by sending money and weaponry to Ukraine to fight a war they cannot possibly win,” she said. “The only effect, more arms and more money from America will be to prolong the war and magnify human suffering.”
She bemoaned the attention that Ukraine has received as the Kremlin’s attacks have escalated.
“All we’re hearing is potential war with Russia over Ukraine,” she said on the House floor. “Ukraine is not a NATO member ally and President Biden had told them we would only be standing with our NATO member allies.”
The vote came just after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a virtual plea to Congress for more assistance, as thousands have died in the ongoing war.
Massie said on Twitter that he thought the legislation granted too much power to the president to sanction other countries.
Gaetz last month expressed frustration over Americans providing financial assistance for the war.
“Why should Americans have to pay the costs for freedom elsewhere when our own leaders won’t stand up for our freedom here?” Gaetz said during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla.