Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie have voted against almost every single bill passed by the House to counter Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Bryan Metzger
Updated ·4 min read
183
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

  • Greene and Massie have voted against almost every bill passed in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

  • The only bill Greene voted for was a non-binding resolution expressing support for the people of Ukraine.

  • At times, the duo have been the only votes against bills that otherwise had unanimous support.

Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky have voted against nearly every single bill passed in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to a review by Insider of recent House roll call votes.

The only exception was a non-binding resolution passed on March 2 in support of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which Greene supported. Massie, meanwhile, joined Republican Reps. Paul Gosar of Arizona and Matt Rosendale of Montana in voting against it.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February, Congress has scrambled to respond to what has quickly become the largest land war in Europe since World War II. Insider identified 19 bills — ranging from non-binding resolutions, to sanctions packages, to military aid authorizations — the House has passed since Russia's invasion began in late February. They include a mixture of new pieces of legislation, as well as previously-introduced resolutions in support of countries besieged by Russia.

Some of those measures have attracted substantial Republican opposition in the House, including 57 votes against the recent allocation of $40 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, 56 votes against a bill pushing for debt relief for the besieged country, and 63 votes against a resolution reaffirming US support for NATO.

Others have attracted opposition from the left flank of the Democratic Party as well, including a ban on the importation of Russian oil, a bill allowing for the seizure of Russian elites' assets, and a bill aimed at countering Russian and Chinese influence in Eastern Europe's telecommunications networks.

But Greene and Massie stand alone in the breadth of their opposition to bills aimed at countering Russia, and they were the only members of Congress to vote against three otherwise-unanimous bills aimed at financially targeting Russia and Belarus.

'We have enough problems here'

On Thursday, Washington Post columnist Paul Kane asked Greene about her many votes against Ukraine-related bills. Greene posted a clip of the exchange on her official Twitter account and slammed the media as "obsessed with another country."

"I feel very sorry for the Ukrainian people, but I was elected to represent my district in Georgia," said Greene, listing off concerns about border security, inflation, gas prices, and the baby formula shortage. "Has it stopped Putin? Let me ask you, has Vladimir Putin stopped his war in Ukraine because of all these sanctions? No, not at all."

She went on to articulate an argument she's made in a couple of different op-eds: that "globalists" have a financial interest in perpetrating a war in Ukraine, and that the US must push for a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

"I'd argue MTG has explained why she is opposed to these measures far more extensively than anyone who supports these measures," Greene's communications director, Nick Dyer, wrote in an email to Insider.

For Massie, a libertarian who has served in Congress since 2012, the opposition to measures concerning foreign affairs is typical and part of a long-standing record.

He was the only Republican to vote present (rather than against) the Iran nuclear deal in 2015, the only member of Congress to vote against extending sanctions on Iran in 2016, the only member of his party to vote against a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement against Israel, and the only Republican to vote against sending an additional $1 billion in Iron Dome funding for Israel, joining several progressive Democrats in doing so.

Massie recently boasted abut his voting record on the Ukraine-related bills, arguing that they "prolong the war, waste tax-payer money, and increase domestic food and energy prices."

Here's a full list of the 18 bills the duo voted against:

Read the original article on Business Insider