Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, criticized the Senate’s passage of the foreign aid package Tuesday night, calling it ‘wrong,’ ‘shameful’ and a ‘sad day for America’ for spending money the government does not have to fund another country’s war.
The $95 billion package includes $61 billion to support Ukraine’s war against Russia, $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid amid the Jewish State’s war against Hamas and nearly $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific and Taiwan. It would also force TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance to sell the platform or face a ban in the U.S.
The Senate passed the legislation by a 79 to 18 vote, and it now heads to President Biden, who said he will sign it on Wednesday.
Lee made a series of posts on social media Tuesday night calling out the Republican Party for siding with Democrats to pass the measure, taking particular issue with the aid for Ukraine, saying lawmakers are ‘spending money that doesn’t belong to them.’
‘Americans are about to be made nearly $100 billion poorer,’ Lee said Tuesday night on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. ‘Not to secure our own borders. But to secure the borders of other countries. Republicans—spurred by Republican leadership in both chambers—gladly advanced the Democrats’ agenda. Neglecting our own. This is shameful.’
In a video attached to the post, Lee said this was a ‘sad day for America.’
In another video, he said Republicans ‘can do better’ than to accept GOP lawmakers in Washington who ‘act like Democrats.’
‘It is time to expect more, it is time to expect freedom,’ he wrote.
‘They think they’re Churchill,’ Lee said in another post. ‘They’re congratulating themselves for spending money that doesn’t belong to them—money we don’t have and will have to borrow and print. Spending other people’s money to fight someone else’s war—against their will—isn’t heroic. It’s cowardice.’
Several lawmakers sought votes on their respective amendments, including Lee, who proposed an amendment to require repayment of the foreign aid to Ukraine.
Lee wrote on X: ‘We need bold colors in the GOP. We lose with pastels.’
‘It doesn’t end well for any political party whose elected officials repeatedly display contempt for the party’s most faithful voters,’ he wrote. ‘Dems don’t do this to their base. Dems fight for their base, not against it.’
Citing past comments from former Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, Lee said foreign aid ‘often involves taking money from poor people in rich countries to give to rich people in poor countries.’
‘I’m sure Americans will sleep better tonight knowing that a few rich people in Ukraine are about to get a lot richer,’ Lee added.
Lee went on to say that the bill is not ‘heroic’ or ‘brave.’ ‘It’s wrong,’ he said.
In response to Biden’s statement commending the passage of the bill, the Republican senator said the measure will lead to more Ukrainian deaths.
‘Mr. President, I believe that this bill will prolong a bloody conflict and cost more Ukrainians their lives, even as their cause is righteous,’ Lee wrote. ‘I also believe that you do want to end the killing. Can we work to establish a negotiated peace in Ukraine?’