The stakes in Ukraine are too high for the House GOP’s partisan nonsense

Earlier this month in Kyiv, Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the “U.S. stands in full support of Ukraine and is working diligently” to secure funding necessary for his country to defend itself against “Russian aggression.” Military aid to Ukraine, Turner added, has “overwhelming support in the House of Representatives.”

Perhaps. But the fate of a bill providing $60 billion for Ukraine, $14.1 billion for Israel, $9.2 billion for humanitarian assistance and $4.8 billion for Taiwan, which just passed the Senate in a bipartisan 70-29 vote, is by no means certain.

If the House, which in 2023 had the least productive and most dysfunctional year in recent memory, fails to pass legislation that is vital to U.S. national security and the future of democracies around the world, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will not be alone in saying that Republicans should be “ashamed” of themselves — and that Ronald Reagan would be “turning in his grave.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has sent mixed signals about whether he will bring the bill to the floor. Johnson voted against funding for Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. Last fall, he demanded that aid to Ukraine be combined with provisions to address the crisis at the U.S. border with Mexico. In January, following a meeting with President Biden, Johnson expressed optimism that a bipartisan “consensus” was emerging. But before the release of the text of an agreement — which the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board praised as “the most restrictive migrant legislation in decades,” in line with “long-time GOP priorities” — Johnson asserted it would be “dead on arrival” in the House.

Johnson claimed shortly after his elevation as Speaker that he supported aid to Ukraine: “We all do.” Ukraine, he emphasized, “has not been abandoned.” But he has made no commitments: “We’re allowing the process to play out, and we’ll handle it as it is sent over” by the Senate.

Given support from the vast majority of Democrats, the package would almost certainly pass the House if put on the floor. That said, since 117 Republicans voted against Ukraine assistance in 2023, a majority of the party is likely to oppose the legislation this year.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) recently recommended that Johnson not put the Ukraine bill on the floor. Rarely scrupulous about facts, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has compared Ukraine’s forces to the Nazi Army and suggested that Zelensky instigated the invasion by poking the Russian Bear and is “torturing his own people.” With Republicans in control, Greene promised “not another penny will go to Ukraine.” She has threatened to introduce a motion to oust the Speaker if he fails to heed Jordan’s instruction.

The puppet-master here is of course former President Trump, who opposes any military assistance to Ukraine and pressured congressional Republicans to kill the border-security compromise because it deprived him of a potent political issue. Trump falsely claims that Ukraine aid has left the United States without enough “ammunition for ourselves.” He has told Republicans to refuse to authorize “a single additional shipment of our depleted weapons stockpiles … to Ukraine until the FBI, DOJ, and IRS hand over every scrap of evidence they have on the Biden Crime Family’s corrupt business dealings.” Trump refuses to say whether he wants Russia or Ukraine to win the war or whether Putin should return Ukrainian land seized in 2014. And he never mentions the massive financial assistance European countries are providing to Ukraine.

In 2022, Tucker Carlson asked, “Why would we take Ukraine’s side and not Russia’s side?” That question should be easy for all Americans to answer. In addition to providing relief to millions of victims of an unprovoked attack, aid to Ukraine will bolster democracies everywhere by deterring acts of international aggression. Ukraine is the frontline of containing Russia — which Vladimir Putin believes is also entitled to territory in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Finland. China’s Xi Jinping is also watching; defeat of Ukraine could embolden China to attack Taiwan.

Trump’s recent statement that he will ignore America’s NATO treaty commitments and “encourage” Russians to “do whatever the hell they want” to countries that have not paid their “bills” for annual defense expenditures (the amounts are in fact targets, not mandates) makes the prospect of an expanded war even more likely.

A successful defense of Ukraine’s rights as a sovereign nation — a fundamental principle of international law and justice — is an investment that will pay dividends. Victory will bolster the international standing of the U.S. and have substantial economic as well as geopolitical ramifications on trade and tariffs, collective security and cybersecurity agreements, cooperation on energy policies and climate change initiatives.

“Let us pray for the House,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) proclaimed during the chaotic search for a Speaker last fall. “Please stop embarrassing the party, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

These days, embarrassing the GOP-led House is not the principal problem. It’s a faction of Republicans putting partisan interests ahead of what’s best for the country and the free world by refusing to get to yes on aid to Ukraine.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.