63 House Republicans In The Pro-Putin Caucus Vote Against Affirming Support For NATO And ‘Democratic Principles’

The Week reports, 63 Republicans vote against House resolution affirming support for NATO and its ‘democratic principles’:

The House on Thursday evening passed a nonbinding resolution reaffirming its “unequivocal support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as an alliance founded on democratic principles,” and calling on President Biden “to use the voice and vote of the United States to establish a Center for Democratic Resilience within NATO headquarters,” to underscore the alliance’s “support for shared democratic values and committed to enhancing NATO’s capacity to strengthen democratic institutions within NATO member, partner, and aspirant countries.”

The resolution passed 362 to 63, with all 63 no votes coming from Republicans, as Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-N.J.) noted on Twitter.

Just now 63 House republicans – nearly one-third of the entire gop caucus – voted against support for NATO “as an alliance founded on democratic principles.” The gop truly is Putin’s Party. pic.twitter.com/iCWHUK7wq7

— Bill Pascrell, Jr. 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BillPascrell) April 5, 2022

Weakening or destroying NATO is believed to be one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top goals, and Pascrell called the vote evidence the GOP “truly is Putin’s Party.”

William Saletan, writing at The Bulwark, argues that even if the end result of GOP efforts to block U.S. and NATO actions against Russia’s Ukraine invasion are “a gift to Vladimir Putin,” the stated motives are a little more complicated. Since Russia attacked Ukraine, 21 Republicans “have opposed, or at least sought to constrain, aid to Ukraine or sanctions on Russia,” having “swallowed a cocktail of isolationism, defeatism, partisan paranoia, and Russian disinformation,” he writes, and he summarized what he sees as “the main pillars of their reasoning” on Twitter.

Why did so many House Republicans vote against the NATO resolution?

Here's a dismaying report on what some of them have argued:

1) NATO provoked Putin's invasion
2) America has no responsibilities in the world
3) Russia is no worse than Canada or the US. https://t.co/h7keSqfA9r

— Will Saletan (@saletan) April 6, 2022

Note: GQP House Freedom (more accurately Fascist) Caucus members Arizona Reps. Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko are among the Pro-Putin Caucus above.

The other side of the equation is the near-unanimity of support among Democrats, even from very progressive members, for standing up to Russia,” Saletan observes. “Leftist Democrats generally oppose armed intervention, yet nearly all of them voted for sanctions against Russia and military aid for Ukraine,” even “the Squad,” simply “because they recognize the war as a showdown between right and wrong.”

The 21 Republicans who evidently disagree make up “a group three times the size of ‘the Squad,’ which Republicans claim is in control of every aspect of Democratic policy,” Saletan writes. “Imagine how much power those 21 Republicans would wield in a GOP-controlled House,” not to mention the 63 who voted against the NATO resolution.

Jason Easley adds at Politicususa:

Many of the names on this list are well-known and outspoken enemies of democracy such as Boebert, Cawthorn, Gaetz, Gosar, Gohmert, Perry, Greene, Rosendale, and Massie. Rosendale and Massie recently attended the emergency meeting of Putin supporting GOP on Ukraine.

Many of the others listed above were were supporters of, or suspected participants in Trump’s coup and the Capitol attack.

The list is essentially a list of the Putin sympathizers within the House Republican caucus. The Republicans aren’t hiding. They oppose NATO. They are sympathetic to Vladimir Putin. These are the Republicans who tried to destroy democracy once to keep Donald Trump in office and they will keep trying because they value power and celebrity more than freedom and the American people.

"As Vladimir Putin has watched our democracy diminishing here…he's emboldened by that because what autocrats want is not successful democracies and not successful self-determination and not for people standing up for their rights" – @matthewjdowd w/ @NicolleDWallace pic.twitter.com/FVOXXrhNDp

— Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) April 6, 2022

@matthewjdowd Thank you for talking about the dangers of Christian Nationalism with @NicolleDWallace on @DeadlineWH I know it’s a 3rd rail. However, both the far right and the Kremlin are winning the battle space in disinformation. Far right religious doctrine has to be addressed

— Julia Ruggieri (@RuggieriJulia) April 6, 2022

During a later vote to authorize a criminal referral for contempt of Congress to the Department of Justice for Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, Rep. Jamie Raskin labled the Pro-Putin Caucus in the GQP the Trump/Putin axis [of evil] in the Republican Party. MTG heckled Jamie Raskin — and Republicans were blamed for her ‘axis’ with Trump and Putin:

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) shut down Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) after she broke House protocol by heckling his remarks as he called for former top Trump officials Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino to be cited for criminal contempt of Congress.

“What about [insurrectionist] Ashli Babbitt?” Greene yelled at Raskin, according to The Washington Times. “What about Russian collusion?” [Previous heckling at te State of the Union Address.]

Raskin, a former constitutional law professor at American University Washington College of Law, was undeterred.

“The gentlelady I think said something about ‘the Russian hoax, or ‘Russian collusion.’ I accept the heckling, Mr. Speaker. That’s alright. Because if she wants to continue to stand with Vladimir Putin and his brutal, bloody invasion against the people of Ukraine, she is free to do so – and we understand there is a strong Trump/Putin axis in the gentlelady’s party,” Raskin charged.

“If she wants to continue to stan with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that is her prerogative,” Raskin concluded.

The House voted 220-203 on a party-line vote, with only Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinziger from the January 6 Committee joining all Democrats. House votes to hold ex-Trump aides Peter Navarro, Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress:

The House voted on Wednesday to hold Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, both onetime aides to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress after they refused to comply with subpoenas from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

The vote was 220-203. The referral now heads to the Department of Justice, which will decide whether to charge Navarro and Scavino with misdemeanors. If found guilty, they will face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Previously, Congress voted to hold Stephen Bannon, Trump’s onetime chief strategist, and Mark Meadows, Trump’s final White House chief of staff, in contempt, after they refused to comply with subpoenas. Bannon has been indicted.

Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said Navarro and Scavino “must be held accountable for their defiance of the law. Even if you do it on your own time, trying to overturn an election is still trying to overturn an election. This kind of cynical behavior as we investigate a violent insurrection is just despicable. It can’t stand. Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro must be held accountable for their abuses of the public trust.”