President Donald Trump's support for Russia in its ongoing war with Ukraine has infuriated a piece of the GOP that he can't afford to lose.
After the 2026 midterms, officials must return to Washington to pass funding for the Department of Defense. But anti-Russia war hawks aren't happy with the president, Politico reported on Wednesday.
Rep. Don Bacon, a retiring Nebraska Republican, can't understand why lawmakers should fund Trump’s broader agenda when the president can't recognize Russia as an adversary. While Bacon is furious about Trump's ballroom, he's also criticizing Trump's spending that is propping up Russia.
“The administration says they want a supplemental, they want a reconciliation bill, they want funding for the ballroom; and it’s like, I don’t see why we should do it,” said Bacon. “He can’t even see Russia as our adversary … Why do I want to fund his agenda? And I think other people feel the same way.”
Trump recently announced that he'd pay $4 billion for a small amount of diesel from Russia, which violates his own sanctions.
Another lawmaker with nothing to lose is Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who still chairs the Senate panel overseeing Pentagon funding. His office issued a similarly pointed warning. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, McConnell argued that passing Trump’s priorities requires cooperation with Republicans who know the differences between allies and adversaries. Ending Trump’s “obeisance” to Vladimir Putin, the editorial said, could be a prerequisite for year-end legislation.
Trump wants to use the reconciliation process to pass the bill. Republicans have used it in recent years when they can't pass legislation because of the filibuster. It's a budget process that can't be filibustered.
Trump also wants to add $350 billion to the $1.15 trillion defense base budget. It will only pass with near universal Republican support. As the GOP senators are losing patience with the president, an unnamed senator told Politico that there will be "guardrails" on the administration in the bill. They didn't detail the specifics, however.
Meanwhile, the GOP hawks still want huge military spending to modernize the U.S. military and compete with China and Russia. So their objections seem to stem from how the spending increase would be enacted, given Trump's foreign policy approach.
The White House, for its part, claims that everything it has done is in an effort to end the war.
Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the senior Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said he wants a more measured approach with modest appropriations.
“The hope is we can do what we did last January where the adults in the room … put together an agreement and fund an appropriations bill that is reasonable,” said Smith. “But keep in mind, Republicans are asking for $1.5 trillion for defense. No Democrat’s going to support that.”
