Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) celebrated the Senate’s passage of a $95 billion defense bill on Tuesday as a sign of America’s “resolve” in the face of Russian aggression.
But it also served as an implicit, if temporary, rebuke of former President Donald Trump, whose opposition to the aid has fueled months of intraparty drama over the future of U.S. foreign policy.
The chamber easily approved the defense bill, crafted to counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, plus assist two other U.S. allies, Israel and Taiwan, with a coalition of Democratic and Republican votes. Yet the road to get there laid bare sharp divisions within McConnell’s conference as allies of the former president rushed to kill the legislation.
Some Republicans questioned the wisdom of funding the war in Ukraine with no endgame in sight, and even a handful of
Read more…
