Will the weapons pipeline to Kiev be cut down after the 2022 mid-term elections in the U.S.? Defense One, in a panicky article posted yesterday, fears exactly that as a result of the expectation that Republicans aligned with Donald Trump will make big gains in November. “Nearly five months into the Russian invasion, support for U.S. military and financial assistance to Kyiv is shrinking among the GOP’s right-wing base, a group that has been primed by its leaders and top media personalities to oppose the Biden administration’s plans for American intervention or even side with Russia’s illegal invasion,” Defense One says. “[S]ome observers wonder just how much longer Americans–especially right-wing voters and lawmakers–will fund a costly stalemate bewteen Kyiv and Moscow. Few predict Ukraine can win without significantly more firepower, ground forces, or direct military involvement by NATO-member neighbors. Should the GOP win control of Congress, whether the United States continues to arm Ukraine could depend on who controls the policy and pursestrings: the internationalist moderate Republican leaders sitting atop key committees or isolationist far-right party superstars.”
Some Democrats are warning that a Republican-controlled Congress puts aid to Ukraine in the crosshairs. “Fact is if the Republicans take over the House in 2022 US support to Ukraine will come to a halt,” Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., tweeted last week. “They will not be able to stop @RepMTG & @mattgaetz from dictating our Ukraine policy,” referring to two of the GOP’s most “extreme isolationist personalities,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla). Gaetz replied, “Ruben is correct.”
There’s still a ways to go in expending the $40 billion package that Congress passed in the spring (half of which is non-military support to the Kiev regime), but the observers cited by Defense One expect, that, should President Joe Biden send up another request in January of 2023, getting it passed will be “an uphill battle.” As for the reasons for growing Republican opposition to aid to Ukraine, “countering China,” as claimed by Sen. Josh Hawley, and “isolationism” are cited, but inflation, crime, and other domestic concerns on the minds of voters are not.
