The House arrived this week at an anticipated and lengthy series of votes on proposed amendments to the latest National Defense Authorization Act, which will fund the nation’s defense apparatus for the next fiscal year.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) presented several initiatives related to Ukraine, and all three that were listed in Congressional records as of early Friday had failed. And the margins were large, with 341 members of the House voting down an attempt from the Georgia Congresswoman to see $300 million worth of support for Ukraine effectively undone. Other proposals from the Congresswoman would have blocked the provision of controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine and thwarted the establishment of a Center of Excellence in Ukraine.
Centers of Excellence are hubs for work by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the cross-continent alliance that provides what’s widely understood as a key foundation against potential violence from figures like Vladimir Putin. The center would not mean Ukraine was becoming a member, a status which would come with expectations that other member countries — including the United States — would contribute to defense in a fashion more substantial than sending the aid that’s already been seen.
A full 332 members of the House voted down Greene’s attempt to block the center. The final tally on her opposition to cluster munitions was closer, with 276 opposing her… which is still significantly above the level of opposition that would have been needed for those opposing Greene to prevail.
Republican Party figures like Greene have raised extensive complaints about the U.S. involvement with Ukraine, which has not featured any service members entering the country to join the frontline defense. Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump, and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) have also joined that opposition, with Gaetz and Greene previously pushing a resolution that would have expressed Congressional frustration with any more aid going to Ukraine at all.
The issues these figures have are clearly not with military action as a rule, though. Gaetz has pushed for an authorization — but not necessarily the use — of military force in Cuba against Chinese assets, and Greene has backed intrusions onto Mexican territory to confront the criminal drug cartels.
