OPINION: US Republicans Lose Avdiivka

The Ukrainians were forced to retreat from the stronghold of Avdiivka, which they had held against the Russians since the start of the war in 2014. The principal cause of the retreat was a “shortage of ammunition because of declining Western military assistance,” the New York Times reported. That is, the Ukrainians were forced from Avdiivka due to a lack of US funding directly caused by the House Republicans.

The Russian advances are unlikely to stop there, as ammunition shortages are endemic up and down the front, again, courtesy of the House Republicans. Thus, the House Republicans can chalk up a defeat of US interests and policy to Putin’s Russia, despite a US economy 14 times larger and a population twice as big.

Mike Johnson’s speakership has brought us to this point: a historic US defeat at the hands of Russia, with more to come.

And where is Johnson? He called an early vacation for the House. As the conservative Washington Examiner put it:

Lawmakers left the Capitol on Thursday afternoon without making progress on several pieces of legislation the House initially scheduled to consider this week. The lower chamber is not scheduled to return until Feb. 28, just days before the federal government is set to enter a partial shutdown on March 1.

Johnson's speakership is rapidly disintegrating, as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), posting on X (Twitter), noted:

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Getting rid of Speaker McCarthy has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster. All work on separate spending bills has ceased. Spending reductions have been traded for spending increases. 

Warrantless spying has been temporarily extended. Our majority has shrunk.

The speakership is a difficult position at the best of times. It is the sausage machine of government policy, where high-minded principles are ground up and converted into legislation that can command a majority vote. The role involves all of persuasion, threats, bluffs, promises, trades and trickery. While representatives like Matt Gaetz (R, FL) can afford to throw grenades over the parapets, the Speaker has to make the machinery of government work.

With a razor thin majority and a fractious conference, Mike Johnson is facing a Herculean task. He looks increasingly overwhelmed.

All of this is terrible for Ukraine. And it will ultimately prove terrible for the Republicans. They will now have to take the blame not only for the anarchy in the House, but also for Russian victories in Ukraine.

As it stands, Republicans are not weak on national security, they are anti-national security. Let's see how the voters like that come November.

This article is reprinted from Princeton Policy Blog. See the original here.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.