By most measures, Congress has responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in a bipartisan way. There are, however, some notable GOP exceptions.
As regular readers know, there’s a contingent within the House Republican conference that’s picked up some unflattering nicknames while balking at Ukrainian aid. Rep. Liz Cheney, for example, has labeled them the GOP’s “Putin wing.” The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called them the “GOP’s pro-Putin faction.” A Washington Post report added that these Republicans have formed “what some Democrats (and even critics on the right) have labeled ‘Putin’s Caucus.’”
Even now, the bloc won’t budge.
Circling back to our earlier coverage, it was in March when this began in earnest. When the House voted overwhelmingly to ban oil imports from Russia, for example, 15 House Republicans opposedthe measure. A week earlier, the House easily passed a non-binding resolution in support of Ukrainians, which three Republicans opposed.
Soon after, the House voted to suspend normal trade relations with Russia, and that measure was opposed by only eight Republicans.
Not surprisingly, combing through the roll call votes, the names become familiar: Many of the GOP opponents of these bills voted no on multiple measures. But only one House member opposed literally every one of them: Thomas Massie.
The Kentucky Republican is perhaps best known for being derided by Donald Trump as a “third-rate grandstander,” though the former president endorsed his re-election this week.