J.D. Vance Takes on the GOP’s Senate Establishment
What’s happening: Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) recently alleged there is a GOP Senate leadership plot to pass a nearly $100 billion foreign aid bill, with roughly $60 billion of Ukraine aid, at the expense of pushing for border security. Vance discussed this at length in a piece for The American Conservative (TAC).
The allegation: Late last year, GOP senators and representatives demanded any new Ukraine aid be paired with border security. Vance is now arguing that GOP leadership set up a weak bill they knew would fail; then, when GOP hardliners opposed it, they could say “We tried,” and pass the aid bill without border provisions.
Why it matters: It is rare for Senate leadership to be critiqued this harshly by lower-ranking senators, indicating that this is a particularly divisive issue for the GOP caucus.
However, Vance seems to be correct: McConnell, one of the longest-serving and more politically astute senators, likely recognized that the originally pitched border security product was dead on arrival.
Keep in mind: Biden could secure the border tomorrow if he wanted to — which GOP leadership is aware of amid their attempts to pass new legislation.
Not just Vance: Vance’s piece in TAC was followed by another from Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and an interview with Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), making the case against further Ukraine aid.
Still, while the three are outnumbered in the Senate (the Ukraine aid bill passed with 70 votes), their views on passing the bill without border security are shared by a majority of GOP senators, as 30 out of 49 voted against it.
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