It’s been all foreign policy all the time here at WTH HQ. But the reality is that the world burns when America is weak. And America is weak right now. It’s not just Joe Biden. It’s a GOP incapable of managing itself, incapable of remembering its job, incapable of electing a speaker… until yesterday. So we asked Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, co-chair of the problem solvers caucus, a person who wants to get stuff done, to talk to us about What the Hell is Going On. Trigger warning: This won’t cheer you up about the American political scene. And timing note: We talked before the new Speaker was elected.
Three questions we asked Fitzpatrick:
Why can’t the GOP get its [bad word] together?
What is wrong that the Ds think watching the world burn is good entertainment?
The border. Ukraine. The border. Ukraine. Hamas.
Brian Fitzpatrick is the kind of congressman you want when you talk about the way Washington ought to be. Smart. Principled. Committed to American leadership. Willing to work with the other side when necessary. Willing to dump all over the other side when it’s the truth. The only question is, why aren’t there more of him? Spoiler: There are. But they’re overwhelmed by the loudmouths on both sides of the aisle who don’t view their jobs in government as an honor, as a responsibility, as a sacred trust. They view their job as being trolls, “owning” the losers of the “other side.” That’s not just Matt Gaetz and his circus. It’s the D leadership.
One of the big takeaways from this conversation is just how complicit the Democratic caucus was in the collapse of the McCarthy speakership. Example: nobody in the GOP could have predicted that all 208 Democrats would vote for the bill Kevin McCarthy put to the floor to avert a government shutdown, and then turn around three days later to remove him. And then, fail to use their near 50% control of Congress to help elect a replacement.
Of course, they owe the Republican Party nothing. Nor McCarthy. But they owe the American people an effort to keep the House running, and it was clear that the D attitude was: pass the popcorn, FTW (look it up). And that’s coming from the co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus.
Another big takeaway is just how the Biden administration has harmed the cause it pretends to support, the defense of Ukraine. America is suffering from devastating inflation, skyrocketing crime, and a border crisis unlike any we’ve ever seen. All of the stats are horrendous, but take drug trafficking: last February, 634 lbs of fentanyl and 12,500 lbs of methamphetamine were collected at the border. That is enough to kill every man, woman, and child in this country.
Most citizens aren’t keen on spending billions on a war far away — even one we must help our friends to win — when they’ve got such misery right here. That’s not a D problem or an R problem; it’s a voter problem. But the Biden administration has spoon-fed aid to Ukraine, asking for a little here a little there, and forcing Congress to vote on repeated aid packages. Plan ahead, dammit. Ask for a big chunk, and one vote.
There’s more in the conversation, including plenty of harsh takes on GOP loons, the need to stand up for Israel, the politics of Ukraine, and more. Let us know your comments.
HIGHLIGHTS
WTH happened to McCarthy?
BF: Kevin McCarthy should have never been vacated. The fact that we always knew that there would be a handful within the Republican Conference that were threatening that if he did anything for the good of the country, anything in a bipartisan manner, that they would try to hold them, "accountable." What we never expected, never anticipated was that 208 Democrats, every single last one of them that voted that day, all of whom voted for the bill that Speaker McCarthy put on the floor to avert a shutdown would then turn around three days later and remove the person who put the bill on the floor that they themselves voted for to avert a shutdown. We could have never anticipated that. I, for one, never expected it. It is totally outrageous and unacceptable.
A war in Europe. A war in the Middle East. And this food fight was the priority?
BF: We had obviously an ongoing conflict in Ukraine, we need to get a Ukraine package passed. We're now a few weeks out, according to DOD's estimates, on when they're really going to start feeling the lack of funding from the US. We now have a war in Israel. We have a government that's going to run out of money on the federal side in 27 days, we have 30 dead Americans in Israel, we have dozens missing in Gaza and we have an entire branch of government offline. So the blame falls squarely with the eight and the 208, and you can proportion that out to those numbers, as to why we're in the situation we're in right now.
Is this the right way to govern?
BF: Are you asking the eight Republicans and the 208 Democrats, or if you want to narrow it down, some of the more moderate members of the Democrat Conference, whether they're proud of this outcome? Whether if Hamas had stormed Israel the day before the motion to vacate, would they have voted the same way? I don't think they would, which I think tells the whole story. So is Speaker McCarthy upset? Of course he is. And should he be? Of course he should be. Danielle, he put a two party solution on the floor to, number one, save us from falling over the fiscal cliff by raising the debt ceiling, number one. And that's where the initial threat came from the extreme right of the Republican Conference.
And then he put a two party bill on the floor to avert a government shutdown, which every last Democrat voted for, save one, I believe, Mike Quigley, because it did not include Ukraine funding. And they all voted for it, we averted a shutdown and they punished him for putting a two party bill on the floor. So of course he's upset, as he should be. Danielle, there were members of the Democrat Conference that told Kevin McCarthy personally, told many of us personally and my colleagues that they would never do this, that they would never side with any extreme members of the Republican Conference to punish the speaker for doing something that they themselves agreed he should do. And they went back on that.
Why did the Democratic caucus support the Gaetz eight?
BF: There's three things that make no sense that they can't explain. If they want to support Israel, which we need to do, if they want to support Ukraine, which we need to do, and if they want to fund the government now in 26, 27 days, which we need to do, then the decision to remove Speaker McCarthy runs counter to all three of those goals, right? So yes, they need to answer this question. I don't think they anticipated what we were warning them of, which is if you do this... Because Kevin McCarthy was holding that Republican Conference together with duct tape and Silly Putty, that is not an easy group to hold together.
With a very slim margin, you've got a lot of different factions within the GOP, they knew that and yet I don't think even they anticipated that we would essentially be shutting the government down. Ironically, two days after we kept it open by bringing that very bipartisan bill to the floor, by vacating them, they shut the government down.
Why is the GOP so bad on Ukraine?
BF: The liberal wing of the Democrat party and the libertarian wing of the Republican Party sort of arc together when it comes to national security. I would say one is historically weak and the other historically naive. There is a libertarian bent that is creeping into the GOP perspective, which is very isolationist in its foreign affairs, foreign policy, which I believe is incredibly dangerous. I am a Reagan Republican. I believe in number one, his approach was appealing to the better angels of people's nature. He was inclusive, he was aspirational. He understood the importance of peace through strength, and he led America through one of the greatest eras, the 1980s, the era of Hands Across America, the era where we we're all united against the Soviet Union.
It was such a patriotic time in our nation's history, and we really need to get back that back to that, not just as a Republican Party, but as a country. And we don't have that right now because there is a libertarian bent creeping into the Republican conference.
But I also will tell you this, Danielle, this is largely politics. I can tell you with every vote, every Ukraine vote that comes up on the floor, there are a lot of people that are in the camp of, "Vote no and hope yes." Nowhere is that more prevalent than in Ukraine. So if we had say, 100 members out of 222 in the Republican conference that voted against the Ukraine funding measure, I would reckon 85 of those 100 didn't even agree with their own vote. But they feel political pressure because of certain aspects of conservative media that have had a disparate influential impact amongst their constituents back home that they are fearful of that vote.
Now, some of them are trying to nuance it, saying, "We want transparency." Well, of course we all want transparency. Of course we do. In fact, me and Mike Quigley, two of the co-chairs of the Ukraine Caucus introduced just that. It's called the PACT with Ukraine Act. It has a partnership and cooperative transparency concept. It established institutions, reporting requirements. We all want transparency. We all want that, but we also want Ukraine, a freedom-loving democracy, a democratically elected government to not be victims of genocide anymore, and to be able to stand up to and defeat an evil genocidal regime of Vladimir Putin because it matters not just for Ukraine, it matters for Taiwan. It matters for freedom-loving nations across the world. This is not just about Ukraine, it's about freedom. That's what it's about.
How is that the GOP caucus has gone from marginal opposition to Ukraine funding to some serious objections?
BF: Now people have news unquote, "News," which is cable news, which oftentimes is more editorializing than it is news on their television 24 hours a day, and they turn on the channel that validates their preexisting beliefs rather than cross-examining their existing paradigms. That's problem number one. Social media is another aspect of it. If you had this odd conspiratorial view back in the 1980s, you were sort of on an island on your own. Now you can find an entire community of people that share those beliefs, which then provided an incentive to act out. And also, Danielle, I would say the fact that only seven out of 50 states in America have open primaries or some version thereof is a huge problem. Because you combine factors one and two that I just mentioned with saber-rattling politicians that are on the rise these days, and you couple that with closed primaries, which 43 out of 50 states have, that leads to a lot of these members voting no and hoping yes, or vice versa.
So members are saying one thing to you and doing another?
BF: I can tell you this was the case with the government shutdown. I can't tell you, Danielle, how many members came up to me on the floor and said, "Fitz, we need your problem solvers to bail us out here. We need you to sign the discharge petition." These are Republican members of Congress who wanted us to do what they probably would've criticized us in public for doing, but it would've provided them with an escape hatch to not have the problem fall on their lap politically.
That's happening a lot, and it's happening because of certain personalities both on the left and the right that have a disparate impact over constituents. It's a problem. And I think we need structural reform. I think we need open primaries. I think we need term limits. All these things would make these bad factors that are leading to bad results go away.
What about the prospects of pairing Ukraine and aid for Israel?
BF: We were going to marry together, and Lindsey Graham talked about this, he and I were on Face the Nation the same day, one segment apart, and he talked about a border funding bill with a Ukraine funding bill, bring them together. Everybody wants both. The Democrats want border funding, they're afraid to say it. Republicans want Ukraine funding, they're afraid to say it. And by the way, I'm telling you from an eyewitness testimony on the floor, they're all telling you this.
Democrats, particularly from New York, are like, "Can you save us from this? Get a border, a bill passed. We want it to pass. We just can't say it." Same with the Republicans on Ukraine. As Danielle pointed out, this is utterly ridiculous that this goes on, but this is the reality of what we're dealing with. That was always the plan.
So how do we get it done now? I think this is exactly how we do it. We marry it with border funding for our own southern border and we get it done.
Is a big package deal for Ukraine and Israel and the border a good idea?
BF: Democrat and Republican colleagues... So I walked over to the Senate that Saturday night after we passed that government funding bill in the House and was talking to a lot of our colleagues in the Senate, Democrat and Republican, who all said the same thing, that they don't like having to take these Ukraine votes every couple of weeks or every couple months. They said, "We got to do one massive bill with transparency, with border funding that gets us through the election."
So to your earlier question, why did the number [of GOP anti-Ukraine votes] go from 70 to 100-plus? It's because people were having increasingly more difficulty explaining their vote back home. If they just had to do one vote, maybe if it was buried into something else, it would be easier politically for them. But they don't like having to take an Ukraine vote every couple months. It's very challenging for them.
Are you going to go against the prevailing winds and fight for Ukraine?
BF: I will use the power of my position and my voice in Congress to make sure that we do not allow Ukraine to get slaughtered on the battlefield, that we give them what they need. I also need to criticize the administration. I'm glad that they are providing support as opposed to some people that want to cut support off altogether. But, Marc, I'm not sure what their strategy is here- if it's to keep Ukraine in the fight or is it to give them enough to actually win? That's been our criticism of the administration.
Back to the question of how the Ds behaved over McCarthy’s ouster…?
BF: I've spoken to Leader Jeffries and several members of the Democrat Conference and I'm the chair of the problem solvers, so I speak to my colleagues there all the time, albeit we're very, very disappointed that they did not vote present on the motion to table. Something that I can tell you, and I've said in advance on national television, that if Hakeem Jeffries were ever a speaker and he put a two-party solution on the floor that I voted for, I would never side with a member of the squad who attempted to vacate him for doing so. I would never do that. So I expect the same out of my Democrat colleagues.
What the hell is going on at the border?
BF: There's hypocrisy across the board and that's unfortunately what we're seeing on a regular basis now. I don't know why [Biden] doesn't secure the border, Marc. He has all the authorities, as you pointed out, he has people like us that are willing to give him any authorities he claims he doesn't have. If he needs a Title 42 without the public health emergency, we have a large bipartisan block that would be more than willing to give that to him. There's only one possible explanation. He can't see it and think it's smart, right? There's only one plausible explanation. He's fearful of the progressive wing of his party who are completely unreasonable on this and several other issues, just like the far right is entirely unreasonable on a whole host of issues in their own regard.
Do people realize how much the border nightmare is undermining support for Ukraine?
BF: I don't know the answer to it, Marc. All I can tell you is, just like I had Republican colleagues tell me, "Get Ukraine funding done, take it off my plate, get the government funding done, take it off my plate," I have a lot of Democrat colleagues saying, "Get the border secure. We want it. We can't be out there being outspoken about it," because of all the dynamics that they have to deal with within their own party and their own base. But that's what we're hearing. We hear all these whispers on the House floor from both sides on the Ukraine and the border issue.
Full transcript here.
SHOWNOTES
How Congressional Chaos Hampers U.S. Aid to Israel, Ukraine (Foreign Policy, October 16, 2023)
Here’s What Can’t Get Done While Republicans Fight Over a Speaker (New York Times, October 12, 2023)
GOP chairman: Jordan committed to linking Israel and Ukraine aid (The Hill, October 17, 2023)
Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick and Josh Gottheimer on "Face the Nation (CBS, October 1, 2023)
Rep. Fitz on CNN “our district wants us to keep America running…We want to continue to support Ukraine in their fight against the genocidal Russian regime…”
Tweet from Rep. Fitzpatrick about FoN: “We’re glad that a resounding bipartisan majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate came together to prevent a shutdown, but there are still critical issues to address, including the border and Ukraine.”
Fitzpatrick, Quigley Introduce Bipartisan PACT With Ukraine Act (Press Release by Rep Fitzpatrick, July 28th, 2023)
Far-Right Republicans Shunned Ukrainian President Zelensky (Paul Blest, Vice, December 22, 2022)
McCarthy: Border is bigger priority than Ukraine
Graham says Ukraine aid will not be separated from border funding
The government shutdown battle isn't over as Kevin McCarthy walks tightrope on Ukraine aid
Border security and Ukraine aid should not be tied together, White House says
U.S. Budget Deal Has Europe Questioning American Resolve on Ukraine (Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer, Foreign Policy, October 3, 2023)
Mexico’s president slams US aid for Ukraine and sanctions on Venezuela and Cuba (AP News, September 29, 2023)
Fox per 9/22 Griff Jenkins tweet
BIDEN’S BORDER CRISIS IS THE WORST IN AMERICAN HISTORY HIS POLICIES CONTINUE TO MAKE IT WORSE (Politico)
The Biden administration is turning a lower percentage of border-crossing migrants back into Mexico (by John Moore, NBC, August 23, 2023)
Joe Biden’s Border Crisis Rages On (House GOP, August 21, 2023)
Illegal Alien Encounters Surge and Shift Under Biden (Heritage, Updated September 22, 2023)
Major Spike in Convicted-Criminal-Alien Encounters by U.S. Border Patrol (Heritage, Updated September 22, 2023)
Families crossing U.S. border illegally reached all-time high in August (Nick Miroff and Maria Sacchetti, Washington Post, August 31, 2023)
'Not one dollar' to Ukraine until our own border secured first, GOP rep says amid funding fight (Fox News, October 3 2023)
Congress Stopped a Shutdown, but Fights on Ukraine, Border Intensify (Siobhan Hughes, Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2023)
President Biden’s Ukraine Supplemental Request Is a Border Trap (Lora Ris and RJ Hauman, Heritage Foundation, August 31, 2023)
Tweets about aid
George Santos on Twitter, “Why I’m anti #Ukraine aid? We have given over $100B to Ukraine & this war seems to have no end in sight. Simply put, we can’t afford it. Every dollar that goes to Ukraine is money taken away from protecting our southern border & investing in Americans future. #Americafirst”
Proud Elephant on Twitter: “AMERICA LAST: The Biden administration has given Ukraine over $113 BILLION in aid, costing American taxpayers $900 per household. We could have secured our southern border AND solved the military veteran homelessness crisis with far less money than that!”
Joe Kent (Candidate for Congress in WA): “The dems are the party of the military industrial complex. Instead of passing individual approps bills within our budget, securing our border & giving aid to Americans the dems are holding Americans hostage to ensure billions are sent to Ukraine & their defense contractor donors.”
Rep. Kevin Hern: “Look. There’s no question Senate Dems care more about Ukraine than our out-of-control spending. Just look at the funding extension they’re pushing. No promise of securing our border. $6 billion in Ukraine aid. I care about securing the borders of AMERICA and lowering spending.”
Sen. Roger Marshall: “If there's one thing that the Chinese spy balloon disaster showed every American: Biden cares more about Ukraine's borders and sovereignty than our own.”
Sen. Roger Marshall: “I am frustrated that we are hours away from the U.S. government shutting down, and the sticking point is whether we care more about Ukraine's security than America's security.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “We have less than 19,000 Border Patrol agents but American taxpayers are paying for 57,000 Ukrainian first responders. America is being invaded. We should be protecting our border, not the border of Ukraine. NO MONEY TO UKRAINE!!”
Rep. Barry Loudermilk: “With over a year of ignoring the crisis on our southern border, it’s clear the Biden Administration cares more about Ukraine’s borders than our own. #DemHypocrisy”
Rep. Greg Murphy: “#ICYMI, this morning @MariaBartiromo and I discussed President Biden’s feckless foreign policy. This Administration cares more about Ukraine’s border than they do our porous Southern Border.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz: “When our border is in crisis, Joe Biden goes home to nap in Delaware. When Ohio burns with toxic chemicals, Biden’s admin says everything is fine. So on Presidents’ Day, I’m not surprised that Biden is ditching America for Ukraine. He ditched America’s interests since the start of his presidency. They can keep him!”
GOP Support for Ukraine softening
U.S. Budget Deal Has Europe Questioning American Resolve on Ukraine (Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer, Foreign Policy, October 3, 2023)
Opinion This is what the U.S. is getting by aiding Ukraine (Max Boot, Washington Post, October 2, 2023)
Ukraine: Americans back most U.S. steps for Ukraine as Republicans grow more split, CBS News poll finds (Anthony Salvanto et al., CBS, September 10, 2023)
Most favor military aid to Ukraine, but partisan split grows, poll finds (Scott Clement et al., Washington Post, October 4, 2023)
American Public Support for Assistance to Ukraine Has Waned, But Still Considerable (The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, October 4, 2023)