No Ukraine aid, a ‘No’ vote: Why Mass. Rep. Jake Auchincloss opposed GOP’s stopgap funding bill
For U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, the calculus for casting his vote against at Republican-authored stopgap bill aimed at averting a government shutdown was a simple one.
The GOP’s decision to omit U.S aid for Ukraine from the spending bill meant a “no” vote for the 4th District Democrat. And when the votes were tallied, Auchincloss, a former Marine who’s been outspoken in support for the Eastern European nation, was one of two Democrats who opposed it.
In a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, Auchincloss said that since the chamber last voted on a stopgap plan earlier this year, he promised himself “it would be the last time I’d vote to bail out [Republican] dysfunction without a clear, credible, and concrete plan for supporting Ukraine. Today, I am keeping my word.”
That vote led to the speedy and historic ouster of former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., which plunged the House into weeks of political and operational paralysis that prevented the Republican-led chamber from voting on any legislation at all. That included U.S. assistance to Israel, which was the subject of a catastrophic sneak attack by the terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7.
Reflecting the frustration of other Democrats and Republicans who support ongoing U.S. aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, “there is no clear and concrete plan from Republicans to demonstrate global leadership to friends and foes alike,” Auchincloss wrote.
“I cannot support a short-term spending measure, cobbled together as the GOP careens from crisis to crisis, that fails to defend democracy,” he continued.
The so-called “clean” continuing resolution, authored by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and passed with the assistance of House Democrats, left out controversial spending cuts and border security spending, which angered conservatives. It also omitted U.S. aid to Israel.
“Since we last voted on a continuing resolution, the world has only become more dangerous for democracies,” Auchincloss wrote. “Congress must demonstrate, through the power of its purse, that the United States stands with its allies in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.”
The bill now heads to the majority-Democrat U.S. Senate, which is expected to pass it, and send it to President Joe Biden for his signature ahead of Friday’s deadline.
By: John L. Micek
Source: MassLive