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The Super Bowl may be over, but House Republicans are still fully engaged in a game of “move the goalposts.”
Last week, opposition from Republicans in the House and Senate effectively killed a bipartisan bill that would have made many needed improvements to our immigration system while also providing military and financial support for our allies in Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The international aid and immigration changes were packaged together in one bill at the request of Republicans, who said they would not support financial aid for Ukraine and Israel without additional funding for the southern border.
Early Tuesday morning — after a marathon overnight session prompted by a filibuster led by a few Republicans — the Senate passed a $95 billion standalone bill with aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King voted for the bill.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would not schedule a vote on the measure on the House floor because — wait for it — the bill didn’t include funding for beefed up border security.
If the stakes weren’t so high, this could be darkly humorous.
Instead, it is cowardly and dangerous.
As we’ve written numerous times before, America’s immigration system needs to be improved, to both cut illegal border crossings and to be more humane for immigrants who have long made America their home. The bipartisan immigration bill that Republicans derailed, at the behest of Donald Trump, who has no role in our government, would have done much of this.
At the same time, the doomed comprehensive immigration bill included vital aid to Ukraine, which is approaching the second anniversary of the violent invasion by Russian forces. The U.S. and its NATO allies have provided critical support — mainly in the form of weapons — to help Ukrainian forces repel the Russian invasion, knowing that the country is a critical bulwark against Vladimir Putin’s vision of an expanding Russian empire.
Critics of the foreign aid bill, Trump included, have suggested that this support somehow takes money away from vital needs in the U.S. First, much of the aid is in the form of military equipment, which is made in America, by American workers.
Second, and more important, helping Ukraine repel the Russian invasion is in the best interest of Americans. Aid to Israel, which faces ongoing threats to its existence from its neighbors, is more complicated because of the reprehensible policies and overwhelming military response, which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, of the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netahyahu. The U.S. can, and should, continue to support Israel but that support can be conditioned on Israel’s restraining its military operations in Gaza.
The geopolitics of the world are fractious and complex, but America must remain engaged. America first, a popular Trump slogan, cannot mean America alone. The U.S. has long played a leading role in spreading — and protecting — democracy and prosperity around the world. If we abdicate that role — as Trump and his acolytes have suggested — other, more malevolent rulers, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, will rush to fill it.
“If we back away, walk away, pull out and leave the Ukrainians without the resources to defend themselves, it will compromise the interests of this country for 50 years.” Sen. Angus King said in a speech on the Senate floor on Jan. 31. “It will be viewed as one of the greatest geopolitical mistakes of the 21st century.”
That’s because it would embolden Putin to invade other countries. It would send a message to Xi that the U.S. would not respond if he forces seek to take over Taiwan. And it would embolden North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to continue to threaten South Korea, King said.
“What we are doing through this bill is to greatly diminish the risk that the United States could be drawn into these larger conflicts,” Sen. Susan Collins said in remarks on the Senate floor on Sunday in support of the national security funding bill. She helped push the bill through the Senate. “History is filled with examples of well-intentioned leaders who sought to avoid war, but who actually made war more likely by refusing to recognize the evil with which they were confronted. Neville Chamberlain declared ‘peace in our time’ trying to appease Germany before World War II began. We should not make that same mistake today.”
Yet, many of their congressional colleagues do appear ready to make such mistakes. They look willing to delay needed support for countries trying to protect their democracies, all while trying to score political points on immigration without actually taking action to secure the southern border or to strengthen our immigration services.
That is nothing to cheer about.
