Editor’s Note: In April 1793, Washington and the cabinet also crafted a series of rules of neutrality, which prohibited the arming of privateers and naval ships of belligerent nations and permitted the commerce of private vessels not intended for warfare. When Congress convened later that fall, they codified those rules into law, which governed periods of neutrality until the Civil War. By accepting the neutrality rules, Congress essentially approved of Washington’s handling of the crisis and ceded authority over foreign policy to the executive branch.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has announced the House will vote on three separate foreign-aid bills (Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan) and a TikTok bill. The lion’s share of the funding is expected to be for Ukraine. Furthermore, these bills are expected to pass with support from Democrats in the face of opposition from constitutionalist Republicans. Foreign aid is unconstitutional, since it isn’t one of the enumerated powers delegated to Congress under Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution. Instead of unconstitutionally prioritizing the borders of other countries, Congress must put America’s borders and national interests first. Please contact Congress, and urge them to oppose all foreign aid to Ukraine and other countries.
Congress and the Biden administration are throwing tens of billions of dollars at Ukraine — even as they ignore serious domestic problems, such as our ballooning national debt and the invasion on our southern border. It is imperative that Congress end all U.S. financial and military support for Ukraine and instead focus on solving our own country’s problems.
One resolution pending in the House — H.Res.113, titled the “Ukraine Fatigue Resolution” — succinctly explains some of the problems with massive U.S. aid to Ukraine, and urges our government to end such disastrous and unconstitutional aid.
If passed, H.Res.113 would “[express] the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States must end its military and financial aid to Ukraine, and [urge] all combatants to reach a peace agreement.”
H.Res.113 correctly notes that “the United States is the top contributor of military aid to Ukraine,” having “appropriated more than $110,000,000,000 of military, financial, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.” It lists in detail the various services and ordnance provided to Ukraine.
Furthermore, the resolution notes that by November 2022, the United States had given Ukraine nearly $48 billion, significantly more than the next largest contributor.
H.Res.113 also states that the United States has donated so much military equipment to Ukraine that, according to the Pentagon, it has “severely depleted United States stockpiles, weakening United States readiness in the event of conflict.”
H.Res.113 is correct. The war in Ukraine — and our government’s support for it — is completely antithetical to U.S. national interests. The Biden administration continues to fund Ukrainian pockets, even while the condition of our country and people deteriorates.
The $110 billion in U.S. funding for Ukraine is enough to build seven 450-mile border walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, or to give $200 million to each of the 435 congressional districts. And while U.S. border crisis continues to rage, the Biden administration sent Border Patrol agents to Poland’s border with Ukraine.
Furthermore, aid to Ukraine is unconstitutional. Foreign aid is not one of the enumerated powers delegated to Congress under Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution. The federal government’s powers are “few and defined,” as James Madison wrote in The Federalist, No. 45, and it cannot lawfully take any action not expressly authorized in the Constitution — including doling out foreign aid, regardless of the country it’s being given to.
Continued U.S. support to Ukraine undermines the national defense of the American homeland and risks entangling the U.S. into a potential protracted hot war with a nuclear power. Instead, the United States should heed the wisdom of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. For example, in his farewell address, President George Washington said, “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” Rather than concerning itself with the defense and borders of Ukraine, Congress should prioritize the U.S.’s own national defense and secure the southern border with Mexico.