An article published in the Quincy Institute’s journal, Responsible Statecraft, by James Antle III, asks “whether even a single GOP-controlled chamber would mean checks and balances on President Joe Biden’s Ukraine policy in a way that did not exist with the Democrats in charge on Capitol Hill.”
While House Minority Leader Kevin MCarthy may have said there may be no “blank check” for Ukraine in lieu of Republicans taking the House, Antle notes that “an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in both parties voted for the $40 billion aid package earlier this year. This includes the entirety of the GOP leadership,” despite the ascendency of “populist and nationalist lawmakers in the ‘America First’ mold,” who “have joined the small libertarian wing of the party in questioning interventionism.”
Nonetheless, the article goes on to note that, even though the establishment Republicans may continue funding and support for Ukraine, the only “serious opponents of greater U.S. involvement are overwhelmingly Republican,” and notes that “not a single Democrat voted against the $40 billion package.” Antle then notes the Progressive Caucus backtracking within hours of sending a letter to Biden that called for a diplomatic solution in Ukraine, citing part of their reason as not wanting to be associated with the populist wing of the Republican party in an election year. He says that while Trump may have broken “the neoconservative hegemony over GOP foreign policy,” it was not replaced with anything, “consigning onetime conservative movement gatekeepers and tone-policers like Bill Kristol and David Frum to the outskirts of the Democratic Party.”
