Three things Biden could do to move Republicans on Ukraine aid
Tom Rogan
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Rebuking Democrats, Republicans in Congress are refusing to support the Biden administration’s push for a major new financial aid injection for Ukraine.
That aid would consolidate Ukraine as it continues to resist a vicious, imperialist invasion by Russia. Here are three ways the White House could better secure GOP support for Ukraine.
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1) Border security
The House GOP majority and the GOP Senate minority are both demanding significant action to secure the U.S.-Mexico border in return for approving further aid to Ukraine. Contrary to claims by Democrats and some in the media that this stance is a grievous submission to Vladimir Putin, this demand is not unjust. After all, a nation needs borders, and the southern border has been largely unsecured for well over a year. Alongside its pressure on government services across the nation, the border crisis poses significant national security concerns. Biden should accept fixes to the abused asylum process as outlined by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK).
2) Push the Europeans to do more for Ukraine and for NATO
The European Union pretends that it deserves credit for pledging slightly more aid to Ukraine than that which the U.S. has pledged. The problem with this argument is twofold.
First, Ukraine borders four different European Union member states but is 4,000 miles from the U.S. Surely it makes sense, then, that the EU provide the outsize support to a democratic nation on the European continent? So why is the EU only pledging slightly more than the U.S. to Ukraine (and pledging ain’t providing). Second, nearly two years after the war in Ukraine began, the U.S. continues to provide the vast measure of defensive efforts of NATO’s eastern flank. These efforts apply across the operational spectrum to include air-to-air refueling, intelligence collection, and air superiority posturing. These military assets are very expensive to operate and would be in short supply in any war with China (an increasing concern, as underlined by the situation in the South China Sea).
Unfortunately, even as they rightly articulate the importance of NATO, commentators such as Anne Applebaum fail to note these discrepancies of effort. Where, for example, is the meat in Germany’s promised “Zeitenwende” boost to defense spending? What is France doing for NATO? Why are Belgium and Spain given a perpetual free pass for their total neglect of defense spending? Who knows.
Republican voters might not reference the detail of these concerns, but their sense that the U.S. is being taken for granted is legitimate. And it directly fuels former President Donald Trump. Biden thus has good reason to increase his pressure on allies to do more if they want to consolidate bipartisan support for Ukraine and NATO.
3) Provide deeper intelligence briefings on the Russian intelligence services
This week, some skeptical House Republicans walked out of an intelligence briefing designed to persuade them that Ukraine’s need for aid is urgent. If Biden wants to persuade Republicans that Ukraine deserves American support, he should expand the focus of those intelligence briefings to underline the nature of Vladimir Putin’s calculating animus toward America.
True, the intelligence community prefers to ignore the worst excesses of Russian aggression against America, including Moscow’s likely attack on a serving U.S. president. Still, even a cursory intelligence briefing on what Russia’s big three intelligence services get up to would be instructive for members of Congress. Indeed, related briefings explain why a sustaining consensus on the intelligence committees is generally bipartisan in their more hawkish views toward Putin than their congressional colleagues. These briefings would also help destruct the absurd creeping narrative in some Republican circles that Putin seeks only a new faith-based mutual respect relationship with the U.S.
It’s easy for Biden to demand aid for Ukraine in moral terms, but he should recognize the bigger picture. Border security should not be controversial. After shared values, expecting allies to bear burdens fairly is the basic structural foundation of any functional alliance. And if he wants to show Putin’s true anti-American nature, Biden should shine a light on what Putin does against America.