Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), one of the speakers at former President Donald Trump's rally in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, said that if Republicans win control of Congress next week, they will use their power of the purse to cut off military aid to Ukraine as it battles Russian invaders. "Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine," she said, to cheers from the crowd.
Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) visited Kyiv on Thursday to "underscore the broad support that continues to exist in Congress for the Ukrainian people," they said in a joint statement. "Clearly, what's going on in Ukraine is something that Republicans ought to focus on, because it's in our national security interest," Portman told reporters.
There is broad bipartisan support for arming Ukraine but a faction of Republicans oppose such aid. And "Portman, who is retiring, may be replaced by Republican candidate JD Vance, who opposes continued aid to Ukraine," Fox News reports. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said a GOP House won't give Ukraine a "blank check."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Greene used to be a far-right gadfly in the party for her adherence to QAnon conspiracies and other misinformation, but she has become a major GOP fundraiser and power player as the Republican Party has shifted in her direction, as Robert Draper detailed in The New York Times Magazine last month. Greene is supporting McCarthy for House speaker if the GOP wins, but that support comes with a cost.
"I think that to be the best speaker of the House and to please the base, he's going to give me a lot of power and a lot of leeway," Greene told Draper. "And if he doesn't, they're going to be very unhappy about it. I think that's the best way to read that. And that's not in any way a threat at all. I just think that's reality."
