Some Conservative Groups Splinter Over U.S. Aid to Ukraine

A handful of conservative advocacy organizations are raising questions about the continuous flow of aid to Ukraine as Kyiv’s successful counteroffensive in the east continues.

The calls for funding to Ukraine to cease came after the White House announced a request of $11.7 billion for security and economic assistance for the first fiscal quarter of 2023 and another $2 billion to help reduce energy costs that have been affected by Russia’s invasion.

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If Congress approves this new set of funding, it would increase the total aid approved to more than $67 billion. It approved $13.6 billion in March and $40 million in May. There were 57 House Republicans and 11 GOP senators who voted against the May package, though they remained a minority within their party.

Concerned Veterans for America Senior Adviser Dan Caldwell criticized the administration’s latest request, arguing that “at a time of record inflation, high energy prices, and a $30 trillion national debt, the United States should not continue to write a blank check for the war in Ukraine.”

“Continued U.S. aid to Ukraine should be connected to clear U.S. national interests and a strategy to end the bloodshed while avoiding the risks of escalation with a nuclear-armed Russia,” he added. “The Biden administration so far has failed to articulate a clear end-state for its Ukraine policy, and as a result, the Congress should not rubber-stamp this aid request. Our lawmakers have a responsibility to seriously consider the impact massive spending bills like this will have on our economic prosperity and the ability of the United States to defend itself.”

Russ Vought, the president of the Center for Renewing America and a former Trump administration official, echoed that sentiment, saying, “The American people are tired of the neoconservative policy consensus that demands billions of their tax dollars be spent to defend the integrity of Ukraine’s border when resources and stewardship cannot be found to address our own,” according to Defense One.

“This new package will prolong a fight that lacks an American dog, allowing regional allies to shirk their security responsibilities yet again,” he added.

Heritage Action for America Executive Director Jessica Anderson called for additional debate into whether billions more should be sent to Ukraine.

Lumping in funding for Ukraine with more spending on coronavirus relief, new spending on monkeypox, and natural disaster funding, she argued that “these funding requests ignore the concerns of the American people, and President Biden refuses to answer basic questions regarding fiscal responsibility and appropriateness of his funding requests. Further, U.S. support for Ukraine deserves an open and honest debate without liberal congressional leadership using funding for the U.S. government as a vehicle for Washington’s priorities.”

Victoria Coates, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a former Trump administration official, spoke about the lack of a defined “endgame” as a current concern.

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“I think what all conservatives would like to hear out of the president is OK, what is the endgame here? And all we’ve heard from the secretary of defense, secretary of state, and the president is we have to do this for as long as it takes — great, is our goal to defeat Putin? I’m behind that 100%,” she told the Washington Examiner. “I might spend a whole lot more if you say these are the specific things we are going to give the Ukrainians who are obviously impressing the world with their bravery right now and have a big advantage right this minute.”

A handful of right-leaning publications took shots at Heritage over its stance on additional aid. The Bulwark called them “pro-Putin, pro-authoritarian voices,” while a National Review editor associated the group with the new America First movement led by former President Donald Trump and cast them as a divergence from the “relic[s] of the Republican Party that was.”

Despite the consternation, much of the GOP on Capitol Hill, including leadership, remain committed to providing aid.