It's Now or Never

The window for realizing aid to Ukraine is closing. It’s hard to see Congress passing aid to Ukraine (or Israel and Taiwan) if it doesn’t happen this month. Failure to support Ukraine will leave the U.S. looking unserious, incapable, and like untrustworthy allies. It will also mean more Ukrainian casualties and an emboldened Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China. Also we will have squandered the best opportunity to defang Russia, destroying its conventional military and bringing security to Europe our most important partner. The Europeans are stepping up approving $50 billion in funding to at least fill some of the yawning gap of the U.S. absence.

It’s important to note that among more traditional foreign policy conservatives, Ukraine has substantial support.  House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) told Josh Rogin of the Washington Post, “The speaker is going to have a hard decision about what to do… If we abandon our NATO allies and surrender to Putin in Ukraine, it’s not going to make the world safer, it’s going to make the world more dangerous… [Ronald] Reagan would never have surrendered to the Soviet Union. Maybe that’s a shift in our party.”

Senate Republicans have also expressed frustration with their House colleagues over their refusal to come to the table and support America’s allies.  Senate Republicans have held several meetings regarding Ukraine funding, with Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C) stating: “I think there’s a general consensus the majority of our conference feel like we need to support Ukraine.” The stalled $100 billion-plus national security spending package aids Ukraine but also benefits Taiwan and Israel.

In the interest of national security and supporting democracy abroad against aggressor totalitarian regimes, Rep. Johnson must fulfill his mandate as House Speaker and work to pass aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. The checks and balances of the American political system were not constructed for senior congressional leadership to wait for the assuring head nod from their own party's formerly impeached presidential candidate, who is currently not holding any office.

We must all write and call our elected representatives and urge them to pass this aid package. It is important to engage Republicans and Democrats. Republicans need to know we will hold them accountable at the ballot box if they fail to pass aid for Ukraine. We want the Democrats to know that we want them to work harder to get a deal done; there are at least a handful of Democrats who think the juice isn’t worth the squeeze and further compromise is not necessary.

It’s important to note the inability of Congress to pass Ukraine aid doesn’t need to be the end of the conversation. There are also policy changes that can significantly help Ukraine. Some of those possibilites are:

• Seizing frozen Russian assets and transferring them to Ukraine;

• Rescinding the prohibition on defense contractors operating in Ukraine which would lead to the repair of the masses of broken western equipment currently laying in heaps in Ukraine;

• Training Ukraine’s military properly in order for them to fully orchestrate a complex ground offensive by retaining commands and staffs (this is not America-splaning, but adapting our professional education to the Ukraine setting as well as learning from their experience as well);

• Encouraging the U.S. military industrial sector to partner with Ukraine to build Ukraine’s defense-industrial base.

Why It Matters: Time is running out. As Ukraine approaches their third year of war, we cannot afford to let our dysfunction lead to a win for Putin. Advocating for the passing of an aid package this month as well as the alternative solutions listed above will encourage like-minded members of Congress to work towards a bipartisan aid package that will allow Ukraine to defend itself and send a message to anyone who wants to harm us that we may be divided, but we remain resolved in defending democracy against authoritarian opportunists.