To pass Ukraine aid, 'Reagan Republican' leaders in Congress paved the way for the party transformed by Trump -bloggerheart

Washington — For Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, the need to provide arms and other aid to Ukraine to defend against Russian aggression is rooted in their earliest and most formative political memories.

McConnell, 82, tells the story of his father's letters from Eastern Europe at the end of World War II in 1945, when the infantryman observed that the Russians were “going to be a big problem” before a Communist takeover. Johnson, 30 years younger, came of age as the Cold War ended.

As both men pressured their party this week to support a $95 billion aid package that sends aid to Ukraine as well as Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian missions, they labeled themselves “Reagan Republicans.” Gave and described the fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin. American strength and leadership. But all efforts to get legislation through Congress have left them both battling an entirely new Republican Party formed by former President Donald Trump.

While McConnell, R-Ky., and Johnson, R-La., took different approaches to dealing with Trump, a potential White House nominee in 2024, the clash highlighted a fundamental battle within the GOP: whether conservatives can support Trump's “America.” Will continue our march towards. First” principle on foreign affairs or will they find value in standing with America’s allies? And is the GOP still the party of Ronald Reagan?

“I think we're having an internal debate about this,” McConnell said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I'm a Reagan man and I think today – at least on this episode – we've turned the tables on the isolationists.”

Still, he acknowledged, “That doesn't mean they'll be gone forever.”

McConnell, at the end of his 18-year tenure as Republican leader, hailed a momentary victory Tuesday as 31 Republicans voted for foreign aid; This was nine more than the support given in February. He said that this is a trend in the right direction.

McConnell, who has been in the Senate since 1985, said passing the legislation was “one of the most important things I've ever dealt with where I had an impact.”

But it was not without cost.

He said last month that he would leave his job as leader next year after internal conflict over funding for Ukraine and the direction of the party.

For Johnson, just six months into his job as speaker, the political undercurrents are even more difficult. He is holding on to his leadership post as right-wing Republicans have threatened to oust him over a vote on aid to Ukraine. While McConnell has embraced American leadership abroad throughout his career, Johnson has only recently given full support to the package.

Johnson was careful not to portray its passage as a victory when most Republicans in his own House opposed the bill. He later skipped a celebratory press conference and described it as “not a perfect piece of legislation” in brief comments.

But he also, borrowing words popularized by Reagan, said that aggression by Russia, China and Iran “threatens the free world and it demands American leadership.”

“If we turn away now, the consequences could be disastrous,” he said.

Radical conservatives, some of whom are threatening an immediate vote on his leadership, are furious, saying the aid is out of line with what Republican voters want. He condemned both Johnson and McConnell for supporting it.

Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, who opposed the bill, said, “House Republican leadership sold out Americans and passed a bill that sends $95 billion to other countries.” He said the legislation “undermines America's interests abroad and paves the way for our country's bankruptcy.”

Much of Washington has praised Johnson for doing what they called “the right thing” at a dangerous moment for himself and the world.

“He is fundamentally an honorable man,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Said, who brokered the negotiations and spent hours on the phone and in meetings with Johnson, McConnell and the White House.

Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said Johnson and McConnell “showed great resolve and backbone and true leadership at a time that was desperately needed.”

When McConnell began negotiating President Joe Biden's initial aid request last year, he quickly hammered out the terms of the deal. He asked Schumer to tie any aid to Ukraine with help to Israel, Schumer said, and demanded a change in policy on the U.S. border with Mexico.

What McConnell had in mind, he said, was that Trump was “unhappy” about providing more aid to Kiev. Yet McConnell, whose office displays a portrait of every Republican president since Reagan except Trump, had almost no relationship with the man he often refers to not by name, but only as “former President.” Refers.

Nevertheless, Trump would prove to wield powerful influence. When an agreement on border security was nearing completion after months of work, Trump described the proposal as inadequate and a “gift” to Biden's re-election. Conservatives, including Johnson, rejected it outright.

With the border deal dead, McConnell stepped up foreign aid with Schumer dismantling border policies, cementing their unusual coalition. Senate leaders met weekly throughout the negotiations.

“We disagreed on a lot of issues, but we really stuck together,” Schumer said.

“We just persisted. We couldn't leave it.”

Meanwhile, a small group of GOP senators began working on an idea they believed could give Johnson some political room to vacate. Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma took an idea that Trump had raised — providing aid in the form of loans to Ukraine — and tried to make it a reality.

Through a series of phone calls with Trump, several members of the House, as well as the Speaker, he worked to prepare approximately $9 billion of economic aid for Ukraine in the form of forgivable loans – as it appears in the final package. Was.

“Our approach this time was to make sure the politics dictated, which means President Trump is on board,” Mullin said.

The conversation culminated in Johnson flying to Florida, where he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Trump at his Florida club days before the House moved forward on Ukraine legislation.

With Democratic help, that was enough to get the bill across the finish line. The legislation, which Biden signed on Wednesday, included some amendments from the Senate bill, including the debt structure and a provision freezing frozen Russian central bank assets for Ukraine's reconstruction. Nine GOP senators who had opposed the first version of the bill swung to “yes” largely due to changes made by Johnson.

The result was a strong showing for foreign aid in the Senate, even though the decision could prove costly for Johnson.

What will happen next in Ukraine is anyone's guess.

While the $61 billion for Ukraine in the package is expected to help the country withstand Moscow's aggression this year, more aid will certainly be needed. Republicans, exhausted after a fierce battle, largely ignored questions about the future.

“It wasn't easy,” Mullin said.