Senate Republicans finally forced to do the right thing on Ukraine aid
The Senate is finally set to pass Ukraine aid, with the first procedural vote Tuesday afternoon and final passage expected as soon as Tuesday night. Now that Republicans are forced to do the right thing, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham has found a way to justify his previous monthslong blockade of the aid package. “There’s a loan component to it. This would not have passed without President Trump,” Graham said on Fox News Sunday. “Trump has created a loan component to this package that gives us leverage down the road.” “His idea of making some of the aid a loan, not a grant, was really a turning point in the whole process,” Graham told Axios, in a desperate bid to save face and justify his craven actions on Ukraine aid. In reality, the turning point on Ukraine aid was when classified briefings convinced House Speaker Mike Johnson that Ukraine was on the verge of losing by the end of this year without U.S. assistance. Donald Trump just provided a little cover with the loan idea, which would amount to $10 billion in loans out of the total $60 billion in aid that would likely be forgiven by the Biden administration. For months, Graham has been following Trump’s marching orders to stop Ukraine aid that doesn’t include harsh anti-immigration measures.. He was all in on the blackmail scheme Republicans embraced to try to keep immigration and the border crisis in the headlines, while also doing Trump’s—and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s—bidding. That insistence resulted in Democrats giving Republicans what they wanted—a harsh border policy bill—only to have Republicans, including Graham, reject it at Trump’s request. Now that strategy is collapsing around them as Democrats and President Joe Biden will win on Ukraine aid without any immigration compromises. There’s no face-saving for Trump’s toady Republicans now, not after Trump hung them out to dry. They did his dirty work for months, only to be left dangling when he decided it would be better for him politically to not be seen as Putin’s puppet. By the end of next week, the aid will be flowing to Kyiv, according to a Pentagon official. In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden promised that his administration “will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental” and he signs it into law. RELATED STORIES: Senate Republicans hand Putin a propaganda victory Republican Party has to make a choice: Putin or democracy Campaign Action
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The Senate is finally set to pass Ukraine aid, with the first procedural vote Tuesday afternoon and final passage expected as soon as Tuesday night. Now that Republicans are forced to do the right thing, GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham has found a way to justify his previous monthslong blockade of the aid package.
“There’s a loan component to it. This would not have passed without President Trump,” Graham said on Fox News Sunday. “Trump has created a loan component to this package that gives us leverage down the road.” “His idea of making some of the aid a loan, not a grant, was really a turning point in the whole process,” Graham told Axios, in a desperate bid to save face and justify his craven actions on Ukraine aid.
In reality, the turning point on Ukraine aid was when classified briefings convinced House Speaker Mike Johnson that Ukraine was on the verge of losing by the end of this year without U.S. assistance. Donald Trump just provided a little cover with the loan idea, which would amount to $10 billion in loans out of the total $60 billion in aid that would likely be forgiven by the Biden administration.
For months, Graham has been following Trump’s marching orders to stop Ukraine aid that doesn’t include harsh anti-immigration measures.. He was all in on the blackmail scheme Republicans embraced to try to keep immigration and the border crisis in the headlines, while also doing Trump’s—and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s—bidding.
That insistence resulted in Democrats giving Republicans what they wanted—a harsh border policy bill—only to have Republicans, including Graham, reject it at Trump’s request. Now that strategy is collapsing around them as Democrats and President Joe Biden will win on Ukraine aid without any immigration compromises.
There’s no face-saving for Trump’s toady Republicans now, not after Trump hung them out to dry. They did his dirty work for months, only to be left dangling when he decided it would be better for him politically to not be seen as Putin’s puppet.
By the end of next week, the aid will be flowing to Kyiv, according to a Pentagon official. In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Biden promised that his administration “will quickly provide significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs as soon as the Senate passes the national security supplemental” and he signs it into law.
RELATED STORIES:
Senate Republicans hand Putin a propaganda victory
Republican Party has to make a choice: Putin or democracy Campaign Action
