Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked by fellow lawmaker's extreme Ukraine aid bill amendments

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Editor’s note: This article incorrectly identified Jared Moskowitz as a Republican. He is, in fact, a Democrat.

A U.S. lawmaker has mocked Marjorie Taylor Greene by adding an amendment to the Ukraine aid bill requiring that she be appointed "Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy to the United States Congress."

After months of delays and several versions of the aid bill derailed by political infighting, Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled his plan earlier this week to vote on the package as four separate bills on April 20.

As is customary in U.S. politics, representatives such as Greene can propose amendments to the bill before it is considered by the House of Representatives.

One of Greene's amendments states that any member of the House of Representatives who votes for the Ukraine aid bill should be required to go and fight for Kyiv.

"I mean if you want to fund the war, why don't you go fight in it," she wrote in a post on X.

Another referenced a long-debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine and called for Kyiv to "shut down all its biolabs" and provide all data on such "research" to the U.S. government.

Other amendments demanded evidence that Christian churches in Ukraine can operate free of government interference and that no funds from the bill could be spent until "the government of Ukraine holds free and fair elections."

Greene's amendments are unlikely to gain support from her colleagues, and even the Republican-leaning Fox News published an op-ed on April 17 titled "Marjorie Taylor Greene is an idiot. She is trying to wreck the GOP."

In response to the amendments, Democrat Jared Moskowitz added two of his own.

The first calls for Greene to be appointed "Vladimir Putin's Special Envoy to the United States Congress," arguing Greene has "repeatedly attempted to block aid to Ukraine, empowering Vladimir Putin's unlawful violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Moskowitz's amendment added that she "has reposted information from the Strategic Culture Foundation, a Russian based disinformation and propaganda channel that has been sanctioned by (the Office of Foreign Assets Control).”

Speaking to CNN on April 18, Moskowitz said the move would "just make it official, quite frankly."

The second amendment put forward by Moskowitz calls for the renaming of Greene's office in the Cannon House Office Building as the "Neville Chamberlain Room" – a reference to the British prime minister who became infamous in the 1930s for his policy of appeasement toward Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Greene is one of the leading voices of the Trumpist wing of the Republican Party which has repeatedly criticized support for Ukraine and threatened to try to ouster Johnson if he goes ahead with the bill.

The political wrangling has meant U.S. assistance for Ukraine has been effectively blocked for months, leading to a rapidly deteriorating situation on the battlefield.

According to Bloomberg, House Democrats have said they will support Johnson's series of bills and could also shield Johnson from an attempt by the conservatives to oust him.

Should the bills pass the House, they will be sent for an additional vote to the Senate as early as next week.

President Joe Biden has already said that he will sign the package right after it passes Congress.

Read also: Speaker Johnson: US House to vote on $61 billion Ukraine aid bill on April 20

We’ve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.