Turning Ukraine aid into partisan trap

“President Biden needs to make a decision TODAY,” Scott wrote. “Either give Ukraine access to the planes and antiaircraft defense systems it needs to defend itself, or enforce a no-fly zone to close Ukrainian skies to Russian attacks. If President Biden does not do this NOW, President Biden will show himself to be absolutely heartless and ignorant of the deaths of innocent Ukrainian children and families.”

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Scott’s position wasn’t unusual. A lot of Republicans, and Democrats, too, want the U.S. to facilitate the transfer of Polish MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Some of those same lawmakers also favor the U.S. enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Biden has rejected both moves.

Both positions are reasonable. Biden’s desire to avoid provocations that could lead to wider war — “World War III,” as he calls it — is entirely reasonable. And the lawmakers’ desire to help Ukraine militarily is also reasonable. Biden won the debate because he is president and they are not.

But that’s where the political wrangling came in. Almost immediately after Scott urged Biden to do more, the Democratic National Committee sent out the message: “DON’T FORGET: Majority of Senate Republicans Voted Against Aid for Ukraine.” The press release began: “As Republicans stand before the cameras this week and try to criticize the Biden administration’s response in Ukraine, we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind you that the overwhelming majority of Senate Republicans voted against $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine while Ukrainians face deadly attacks at the hands of Russia.”

Then, almost like clockwork, came the Washington Post. “More than two dozen Senate Republicans are demanding that President Biden do more to aid war-torn Ukraine and arm its forces against Russia’s brutal assault, after voting last week against $13.6 billion in military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine,” the paper reported. “Democrats quickly condemned what they saw as glaring hypocrisy among the Republicans who voted against the aid but were quick to criticize Biden as a commander in chief leading from behind in addressing Ukraine’s needs.”

Is that what really happened? Are Republicans really against aid for Ukraine, even as they slam Biden for not giving enough aid to Ukraine? How could that be? Anyone who wants to know what actually happened needs to look a little closer. This is the real story:

When Democrats and their media allies say Republicans voted “against $13.6 billion for Ukraine,” they are referring to a giant, $1.5 trillion omnibus government funding bill passed on March 10. It was must-pass legislation, needed to keep the government operating and avoid the kind of partial shutdowns that have been seen in the past. But this one was not only huge — it was different from recent spending measures. The difference was that it revived earmarks, which are spending provisions put in at the behest of individual lawmakers. In the past, earmarks created a culture of runaway pork spending, which led Republicans to push for a ban successfully in 2011.

Now, they are back. The spending bill was enormous — 2,741 pages. It spent $730 billion on domestic programs, which Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy characterized as investing “in future prosperity, in our health, and reduc[ing] everyday costs for millions of Americans, such as child care, a college education, and heating and cooling costs.” It also spent $782 billion on defense.

And then there were more than 4,000 earmarks, mostly but not exclusively from Democrats. Among the spending in the bill was $1.6 million for the “development of equitable growth of shellfish aquaculture in Rhode Island.” There was $3 million for a Gandhi museum in Houston and $3 million for the Palo Alto History Museum, in one of the richest communities in America. There was $800,000 for “artist lofts” in Pomona, California. And much, much more. Republican Sen. Mike Braun kept a list of the earmarks, which you can read here.

It was a 2,741-page riot of spending. And amid all that, deep inside the bill was a provision for $13.6 billion in aid for Ukraine — about $6.5 billion for military assistance and the rest for aid to displaced refugees. In all, the $13.6 billion represented less than 1% of the $1.5 trillion of spending in the omnibus bill.

Some Republicans were outraged. Why put the Ukraine aid in a huge bill that includes so much useless spending that so many senators oppose? But that was the point. The Senate leadership put the Ukraine measure in the big bill so that senators who opposed the pork would have to think twice about voting against it since it would mean they would also be voting against aid to Ukraine. In effect, the leadership held Ukraine aid hostage until senators also voted for funding equitable shellfish aquaculture in Rhode Island.

Republicans tried to get around it. Scott, for one, pushed for a separate vote for Ukraine aid. Here is how the New York Times reported it: “To push the package through the Senate, lawmakers had to navigate a series of objections from conservative Republicans, who complained that they had little time to examine the legislation and pushed to prioritize emergency aid to Ukraine. ‘It’s hard to express my anger and frustration,’ said Sen. Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, as Democrats blocked his effort to pass the emergency aid for Ukraine without the $1.5 trillion to fund the government. ‘What in the hell are we doing here?'”

In the end, Scott and 30 other Senate Republicans voted against the $1.5 trillion omnibus bill while still seeking to pass a separate measure for Ukraine aid. And within minutes, Democrats pushed out the story: Republicans oppose aid for Ukraine! And then, after Zelensky’s speech to Congress, when Scott pushed for Biden to approve the transfer of MiGs or a no-fly zone, Democrats again pushed out the story: Republicans oppose aid for Ukraine! And then the Washington Post picked it up: “More than two dozen Senate Republicans demand Biden do more for Ukraine after voting against $13.6 billion for Ukraine.”

Of course, there was more to it than that. Much more, for anyone curious enough to look.

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