Donald Trump or Ukraine: It’s the momentous decision now before the United States House of Representatives, which is about to debate a bill with global implications.
Over the coming weeks, the Republican-led chamber will consider the specific issue of whether to continue donating weapons for another year to the besieged eastern European nation.
But what’s about to unfold in that body will broach a broader question of worldwide interest: The view the U.S. has of its role in the world, and whether that includes defending an ally.
The issue has landed in the House after the Senate wrapped up its own months-long debate, passing a bill Tuesday that funds weapons transfers to several countries.
What this imminent struggle will reveal is whether enough of the pre-Trump Republican Party still exists to push the legislation through.
Biden implores Republicans to support bill
U.S. President Joe Biden cast the upcoming legislative tussle as a historic trial of American commitment to foreign friends.
“Stand for decency. Stand for democracy,” Biden urged House Republicans. “I mean this sincerely: History is watching.”
Ukraine is by far the largest recipient of military aid in the legislation; two-thirds of the $95 billion US package would go to Ukraine, with smaller sums for Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian relief in Gaza.
However, the bill faces determined opposition from the increasingly mighty Trump-led nationalist wing of the Republican Party.
Trump allies are tearing into Republicans backing the legislation and threatening them with primary challenges.
Those battle lines were evident in the Senate debate. Mitch McConnell, the exemplar of the party’s old-guard leadership, decried what he called the dim, shortsighted view of colleagues who reject the U.S. playing a leadership role in the world.
“Idle work for idle minds,” is how the Republican leader cast it. “And it has no place in the U.S. Senate.”
Yet, when it came time to vote, McConnell was in the minority. A man who once held a mighty grip on Republicans was among just under half of those in the party who backed the bill.
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