Depending on which Republican House member is speaking, the U.S. government is either doing too much or not enough to support Ukraine’s war against Russia.
As the war marked exactly one year since the day that Russia invaded its sovereign neighbor, GOP House leaders—the Chairs of the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees—blasted the Biden Administration for not doing enough to support Ukraine.
“President Biden needs to stop dragging his feet on providing the lethal aid necessary to end this war. Continued half-measures by the Biden administration will only drive up the cost of this war in lives and dollars,” Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Mike Turner (R-OH) said in a statement.
One day before Russia’s invasion hit its one-year mark, however, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was set to introduce a bill in the House to force an audit of the aid that the U.S. has so far sent to Ukraine.
“It’s going to force Congress to give the American people an audit,” Greene said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday. “And that is exactly what the American people need, an audit of Ukraine, because we have no idea where all this money’s going.”
Her bill follows one introduced earlier this month by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and 10 other House Republicans—including Greene—called the “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” to try to cut off funding for the war.
“America is in a state of managed decline, and it will exacerbate if we continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars toward a foreign war. We must suspend all foreign aid for the War in Ukraine and demand that all combatants in this conflict reach a peace agreement immediately,” Gaetz said in a statement.
The bills come after now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last year warned that there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine once the Republicans took majority of the House on January 3. “We want to make sure there’s accountability for everybody, the money that is spent,” McCarthy has said.
Greene and Gaetz were among the roughly dozen House Republicans who had demanded concessions from McCarthy last month before finally agreeing to vote for his ascension to Speaker after a nearly unprecedented four days and 15 rounds of voting.
A Fox News poll released on Thursday finds that 50% of Americans believe the U.S. should support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to win the war against Russia, while 46% believe there should be a limited timeframe. Republicans were more likely to vote for limiting support—61%. That’s as 66% of Democrats said the aid should continue as long as the war continues.
Including the roughly $2.5 billion that the U.S. pledged this week, the federal government has so far committed some $79.5 billion in total aid to Ukraine since January 2022.
“The majority of Congress understands that this is crucial,” House Intelligence Chair Turner insisted in an interview on February 12, referring to U.S. aid to Ukraine. “We are fighting on the front lines of democracy.”
In another interview that same day, House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul added, “We have to educate, where has the money gone.” He stated further, “I still believe there are many on both sides of the aisle, a majority of the majorities, in support of this.”
