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It’s not clear how many elected Democrats are still flying Ukrainian flags on their lapel pins and social media pages, but most of them have decided it’s now safe to admit they have other priorities. A vote in the U.S. House this week shows that most Democrats are unwilling to back stronger sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia if it means cooperating with Republicans. Democratic voters in liberal suburbs may need to update their yard signs. Prior to the vote the Journal’s Kim Strassel flagged this issue in her
weekly newsletter: House Republicans are (finally) set to hold a vote on one of the more substantive policy bills of this year—the bipartisan Russia sanctions legislation championed by late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham. The GOP is hoping for a final floor vote as soon as Wednesday afternoon, and the bill should pass. But the number to watch is how many House Democrats turn their backs on a central party priority and national-security concern—as well as on their own Senate colleagues—simply to signal to progressive activists that they are “resisting”
Trump. The sanctions bill is such a policy home run that it received 86 votes in the Senate in early August, losing only libertarian Rand Paul (R., Ky.) and a handful of lefty grandstanders (think Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey and Ron Wyden). Democratic support makes sense, as the bill was co-authored by Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal, and the party has long prided itself on its support of Ukraine. The bill will allow Trump to impose punitive sanctions on Russia as well as tariffs on buyers of Russian oil and gas, stripping Vladimir Putin of the revenue he uses to fuel his war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to the U.S. in July to meet personally with senators and plead for the bill, which he explained was necessary to help Ukraine shore up gains, especially as
it marches again toward winter. Republicans made concessions to get bipartisan support, while the administration worked with senators like Georgia’s Raphael Warnock to reassure Democrats that the legislation contains guardrails on Trump’s tariff powers. In a move few of them will remember with pride, most Democrats chose to “resist” Donald Trump rather than help the people of Ukraine resist Putin. Only 58 Democrats voted for the bill, while 152 voted against the measure. Perhaps media folk will now conjure reports of Democratic Party collusion with Putin—but probably not. ***
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