As the House reconvenes after its Easter break on Tuesday, embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to cajole recalcitrant Republicans into finally pushing through a critical and long-delayed aid package for Ukraine.
Johnson faces stiff opposition, if not open rebellion, from the right-flank of his own party, where extreme MAGA isolationists like Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have threatened to oust him if he pushes for more aid for Kyiv.
Johnson faces stiff opposition, if not open rebellion, from the right-flank of his own party.
In February, Trump posted that the U.S. should only provide foreign aid as a “loan.” He then came out against a foreign package that would have provided for both Israel and Ukraine. Ally Taylor Greene is just picking up his baton. But such chaotic isolationism is short-sighted and wrong-headed. Ukraine is doing the U.S. and the world an essential service by keeping its Russian invader in check. The geopolitical stakes are historically high, as Taylor Greene would no doubt realize if she bothered opening a history book or taking a quick glance at a European map.
Ukraine is an essential bulwark against Moscow’s imperial, expansionist ambitions. Nuclear weapons aside, Moscow remains a resource-rich global backwater. But the invasion of Ukraine has once again revealed Russia to be an aspiring empire aggressively thirsting for international recognition. And that’s why Ukraine must not fail, lest Russia push for even more gains in Moldova, or the Baltic states, or perhaps even Poland.
Support for Ukraine has remained strong in Europe, with nations digging deep into their armories. But here in the United States, Trump’s political resurgence, with his seeming affinity for strongmen, has thrown our own continued backing into question, and our military resupply efforts into chaos. President Ronald Reagan must be turning over in his grave.
What’s even more tragic is that from a military standpoint, the return on the…
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