U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) slammed the House of Representatives, saying that the Mike Johnson-led chamber “can revel in another high-five for Putin.”
Fetterman is taking the House — and especially its intransigent MAGA contingent — to task for tanking two bills this month that would have provided continuing U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
House members blocking critical aid to Ukraine can revel in another high-five for Putin who just murdered his most vocal and visible critic. https://t.co/sFGr4D33ch
— Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) February 16, 2024
Fetterman’s rage is triggered by the death in a Russian prison of famous Putin critic and opposition leader Alexey Navalny, which President Joe Biden had no qualms about pinning on Putin directly. (“Make no mistake, Putin is responsible for Navalny’s death,” Biden said unequivocally.)
Fetterman’s finger-pointing at the Trump-aligned Putin apologists in the House — and his use of the word “another” in his critique, because the behavior isn’t unique — focused on what he considers to be a MAGA Republican threat to global stability and therefore to American security.
First, Johnson promised last week that a bipartisan Senate bill negotiated by conservative Republican Senator James Lankford (R-OK) was dead on arrival in the House because it “didn’t meet the moment” — in Johnson’s words — of the U.S.-Mexico border crisis.
Blaming the border for his inaction, Johnson got the bill — which included aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan — quashed before it even left the Senate.
Next Johnson vowed never to put a Senate supplemental security bill giving aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan (with no border provisions) on the House floor for a vote. Biden had already said that failing to fund Ukraine’s defense would be a “gift” to Putin — Fetterman says the House MAGA congress member’s ‘America First’ myopism is akin to giving Putin a high-five to go with the gift.
Fetterman’s high-five accusation comes during a week when the GOP frontrunner Donald Trump said provocatively that he would “encourage [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want” to any NATO nation that was in arrears on their alliance payments.
Putin appears to have received the message from Trump that he can act with impunity against his enemies. This time, Fetterman says, Putin was also “encouraged” by Congress.