18 House Republicans Broke With Trump on Ukraine - Democrats Could Not Be Happier

Eighteen House Republicans handed Democrats a gift Thursday, crossing over to pass a Ukraine aid bill that the White House has already promised Trump will veto. They did it knowing full well he would.

The final vote was 226-195. Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (CA-06), who caucuses with Republicans, also voted yes. Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) was the only Democrat to vote no. The bill now goes to the Senate, where Republican leadership has not scheduled a vote on Ukraine aid and has been waiting for Trump's direction before moving on Russia sanctions. It is going nowhere.

The Ukraine Support Act would authorize more than $1 billion in direct assistance to Ukraine, up to $8 billion in loans, and new sanctions and export controls on Russia's financial, oil, and mining sectors.

The bill reached the floor via a discharge petition, which forces a vote when 218 members sign on and bypasses the Speaker entirely. Kiley, and Republican Reps. Don Bacon (NE-02) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) signed with Democrats to trigger the vote over Speaker Mike Johnson's (LA-04) objections.

Before a single vote was cast, the White House made Trump's position explicit. The bill would "tie the President's hands by mandating a wide-ranging U.S. response to the Russia-Ukraine war while adding hundreds of millions in unfunded authorizations." The mandatory sanctions, the administration warned, could "plunge the global economy into chaos." None of that stopped 18 Republicans from voting yes.

Republicans who voted against the bill did not mince words.

Rep. Randy Fine (FL-06):

"This bill is not about helping Ukraine. This is not about standing up to Vladimir Putin. This is about engaging in Trump Derangement Syndrome as President Trump tries to bring this [conflict] in for a landing."

Rep. Clay Higgins (LA-03) kept it shorter:

"I oppose further funding of Ukraine."

Rep. Keith Self (TX-03) argued the bill would make peace harder to reach.

"If you support this bill, then clearly you are not interested in peace, because the consequences would tie the hands of this president and could lead to future hostilities that would bleed over into Europe."

Republicans who voted for the bill tried to argue they were not defying Trump at all. Rep. Joe Wilson (SC-02) said he was voting for "the people of Ukraine" and called Trump a leader in supporting them. That argument is not going to land with the people who elected these members. The GOP base has watched billions flow to Kyiv with no real accounting for where it went, corruption concerns left unresolved, and Washington's usual answer when the tab comes due: send more.

The bill also undercuts Trump's own work on NATO. It calls on member countries to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense. Trump already locked in a 5 percent commitment from allies in 2025. Republicans who voted for this legislation voted to roll that back. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07) said the bill "literally moves us backwards." He was right.

Ceasefire: Trump Announces Huge News in Russia-Ukraine War

Rep. Bacon, who is not running for reelection, compared the vote to a choice between Churchill and Chamberlain and said he wanted the House to pick Churchill. It is easy to cast a vote like this when you are on your way out the door. His colleagues who are still on the ballot might want to think harder about whose team they just helped.

Thursday's vote will not change the war. The bill will die in the Senate or on Trump's desk. But that was never really the point. Democrats used a procedural trick to drag 18 Republicans onto the wrong side of a Ukraine aid vote, split the conference on camera, and handed every left-wing outlet a "Republicans defy Trump" headline before the weekend. They got everything they wanted without passing a single law. The 18 Republicans who went along with it gave it to them.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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