Press: Honor Navalny, pass the Ukraine aid bill 

Politics is full of surprises. But after several decades of practicing, covering and writing about politics, I still never thought I’d see a time like this. 

I never thought I’d see the day when Russia would invade a neighboring country, slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent civilians, and Republicans would refuse to come to Ukraine’s defense. I never thought I’d see the day when the government of Russia would assassinate its chief critic and the Republican Party’s leading presidential candidate would say nothing for four days. I never thought I’d see the day when the party of Ronald Reagan became the party of Vladimir Putin.  

But, sadly, here we are. To be clear, the Russia Reagan condemned as the “evil empire” hasn’t changed. It’s still the country where there are no free elections, freedom of expression or freedom of speech. It still allows no political dissent. It’s the country where countless Russians are in prison today for daring to criticize Putin’s war in Ukraine.  

And it’s the country where Putin’s political opponents are systematically eliminated. Dissident Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned in 2006. Political opposition leader Boris Nemstov, gunned down outside the Kremlin in 2015. Yevgeny Prigozkin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, killed in a plane crash outside Moscow last year. And now Alexei Navalny, who, let’s be honest, didn’t die of exhaustion, but was killed, probably poisoned, in an Arctic prison last week. 

No, the “evil empire” hasn’t changed. The Republican Party has changed. From standing up to Putin to bending over for him. It may sound harsh to accuse Republicans of being afraid to stand up to Putin, the same way they’re afraid to stand up to Donald Trump. But it’s real. There’s no other way to describe it. There’s no justifying their opposition to continued aid for Ukraine. 

“We can’t worry about Ukraine’s border until we secure our own border.” That’s the fig leaf they try to hide behind, which is balderdash. First, because they’re really two different issues, and Congress can deal with more than one issue at a time.

Second, because after Democrats agreed to couple border security with aid to Ukraine and, with the leadership of Sen. James Langford (R-Okla.), hammered out a Ukraine relief package that contained all the new tough measures Republicans demanded at the border. MAGA Republicans in the Senate and House then opposed that bill — their own bill — because Donald Trump told them to. 

And, of course, Republican opposition to Ukraine aid is even disgraceful today, after the murder of Navalny, who was imprisoned for, among other manufactured crimes, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — yet courageously returned to Russia, knowing his dissent might result in imprisonment or assassination. 

Navalny’s courage should make Republicans opposed to Ukraine aid cower in shame. Especially House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Last December, during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington, Johnson assured him “we are not going to abandon Ukraine.”

But now Johnson won’t even schedule the bipartisan Senate Ukraine bill for a vote in the House because he knows it would pass — and he knows Donald Trump wouldn’t like it. 

In a sense, it’s lucky for Republicans that they’re out of town for two weeks. Because they won’t have to answer reporters’ pesky questions about Ukraine. So maybe they can use that time to find a little backbone. Maybe they can listen to their conscience, instead of Donald Trump.  

And their conscience will tell them: The only way to honor the memory of Alexei Navalny is to approve continued American aid to Ukraine. 

Press hosts “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”