Since Russia invaded Ukraine in March, Congress has taken historic steps to assist Ukraine and counter Russia. That includes billions of dollars in financial aid and banning Russia oil imports.
What You Need To Know
Over the past few months, Congress has passed bipartisan legislation assisting Ukraine and countering Russia
A small group of Republicans have voted against much of the legislation
Rep. Dan Bishop and Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina have voted against some of the legislation
All of the major legislation that’s become law was bipartisan, but not all lawmakers have been on board.
"Europe needs to be responsible for its own security situation. The United States should be a partner, not a nanny,” said Republican Rep. Dan Bishop, who represents the state's 9th District, which stretches from the Charlotte area east toward Fayetteville.
Bishop has voted against much of the legislation. Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who represents the state's 11th District in the mountains, has also opposed some of the major bills.
While Bishop voted for a bill to suspend trade with Russia and Belarus, he voted against banning Russian oil imports and was one of just 10 Republican lawmakers to vote against streamlining a lend-lease program to quickly provide American equipment to Ukraine.
He also voted against a recent $40 billion additional financial aid package. He called it an “America Last" spending package.
"Compare that to the contributions that Europe has made. In fact, it’s hard to even go and get a figure out of the media over what amount Europe has devoted to this,” Bishop said.
While the total amount of U.S. support far exceeds any other country, it actually ranks fourth below Estonia, Latvia and Poland when looking at the percentage share of a country’s GDP. That’s according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
"It’s really hard and expensive to be a world superpower. We want all the benefits of being the world’s most powerful, the world’s bank ... but sometimes that costs a lot of money,” said George Washington University assistant politics professor Casey Burgat.
Burgat said the small contingent of Republicans who have opposed Ukraine aid represent a movement that was on full display under former President Donald Trump.
"This is the end result of the nationalistic, Make America Great Again crowd, which is saying it’s not worth sending U.S. dollars overseas when we have enough problems here at home,” Burgat said.
The argument against that stance is it actually weakens the U.S. on the world stage and makes it vulnerable. And some, including reportedly Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have referred to those who oppose the Ukraine aid as isolationist.
"I’m not an isolationist by any means," Bishop said. "I just think what we see in the rest of Congress, including Republicans and Democrats, don’t have much balance and give little credence to the American people. They’re interested in adventurism abroad.”
A recent poll from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds support for punishing Russia is dropping among people in the United States. Forty-five percent of people polled support sanctioning Russia as effectively as possible even if it damages the U.S. economy. That’s down 10 points from March.