GOP split over US support for Ukraine appears on invasion anniversary

WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell attacked Republican skeptics of sending aid to Ukraine on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion Friday, while far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pitched a resolution to audit assistance to Kyiv as Republican fissures over the conflict became public once again.

With the Senate out of session this week, McConnell (R-Ky.) traveled to Helsinki to meet with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

“As my fellow leading Republicans and I have explained, it is not an act of charity for the United States and our NATO allies to help supply the Ukrainian people’s self-defense,” McConnell said in a statement. “It is a direct investment in our own core national interests. America is a world power with worldwide interests. Our security and prosperity are deeply intertwined with a secure and stable Europe.

“If Putin were given a green light to destabilize Europe, invading and killing at will, the long-term cost to the United States in both dollars and security risks would be astronomically higher than the minuscule fraction of our GDP that we have invested in Ukraine’s defense thus far,” he added.

McConnell spoke on the same day the Biden administration approved another $2 billion Ukraine military aid package, bringing the total amount the US has spent on security assistance for Kyiv to $32 billion since Russia invaded, according to the Pentagon.

Another $15.2 billion has gone to supporting US military efforts related to the war, and $27.2 billion was spent replenishing the Pentagon’s weapons stockpile.

“The US is largely sending Ukraine older weapons from our stockpile,” McConnell said. “This means that a significant portion of the money Congress has appropriated is going directly to strengthen America’s own defense by replenishing our inventories with more modern versions of these older weapons we have transferred to Ukraine.”

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) agreed, saying on Twitter Thursday that it was in “America’s interest” to continue supporting Kyiv’s defense.

“If Russia can invade, subjugate, and pillage Ukraine with impunity, it will do the same again to others, and a world at war diminishes the security of Americans,” Romney said. “An emboldened and expansionist Russia may eventually invade one of our NATO allies, drawing America into war.”

Romney called the costs to America “significant,” but added that “fortunately, there’s no blood being shed by our soldiers.

“The global competition between dictatorship and democracy is center stage in Ukraine. The world is watching to see whether we have the courage of our convictions,” he added.

The Georgia Republican is not alone in calling for an audit. The House Oversight Committee sent the Biden administration a letter on Wednesday announcing it was “conducting oversight of the federal government’s administration of US taxpayer-funded assistance to Ukraine.”

“It is critical that government agencies administering these funds ensure they are used for their intended purposes to prevent and reduce the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse,” the committee said. “The Committee seeks documents and information to understand how the Department of Defense, Department of State and the US Agency for International Development’s (sic) are conducting oversight of these funds.”

Opposition to helping Ukraine is also present in the Senate. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who has pushed for a sharper focus on China, tweeted Friday: “The Republican Party can be the party of Ukraine and globalists or the party of East Palestine [Ohio] and working Americans. Not both”.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has taken a more agnostic view of the dispute, saying on his “Verdict” podcast recently that “Congressional patience for an open-ended commitment to the Ukraine war is fading quickly, and with a Republican majority in the House, I think you’re going to see much more scrutiny on what funds are going.

“I think there will still be a willingness to provide actual weaponry, to provide ammunition or weapons that the Ukrainians can use to defend themselves,” he continued. “I think there will be very little interest in unrestrained checks going to the government of Ukraine.”

That divide among Republicans has shown up in polling, with 47% of GOPers telling a recent Gallup survey that the US was offering too much aid to Ukraine, while just 10% of Democrats thought the same.

In addition to the $32 billion sent to Ukraine by the US, American allies and partners have contributed $20 billion in weapons, the Pentagon said Friday.

“We have challenged our friends to invest more in defense and shoulder more of the burden themselves,” McConnell said in Helsinki. “There is a clear path by which a stronger, healthier, more unified NATO can emerge from this crisis stronger than we began it.

“America and our friends need to finish waking up from our holiday from history, welcome Finland and Sweden into NATO by this summer, and make significant investments in military modernization and our defense-industrial capacities that are commensurate with the major challenges we face.”