A handful of House Republicans have voted against bills aimed at holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine, giving Democrats a way to accuse the GOP of harboring a faction aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin sympathized.
Six Republicans on Wednesday opposed a bill directing the government to collect evidence “related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.” All other members of the House of Representatives present voted yes.
The six Republicans who voted “no” were Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Warren Davidson (Ohio), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.). Thomas Massie (Ky.) and Scott Perry (Pa.).
The draft law came into play days after images of dead civilians surfaced in the streets of towns and suburbs around Kyiv as Russian troops left those areas and the Ukrainian military moved in.
The Russian government has denied the allegations, but videos and still images have emerged supporting the argument that Russian forces have been indiscriminately targeting civilians. One photo showed a person being killed with his hands tied behind his back. Other satellite images showed dead bodies littering the streets for weeks while Russian troops occupied certain areas.
Hours after the Senate voted in a rare 100-0 poll to end the permanent normal trade ties with Russia and Belarus that have supported Moscow’s war in Ukraine, three House Republicans voted 420 to 3 in the House of Representatives, ” No”. measure of Biden’s desk.
The no votes this time came from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Greene and Massie.
Seven House Republicans also voted against a bill banning Russian oil, coal and gas imports: Greene, Massie, Gaetz, Rep. Dan Bishop (RN.C.), Biggs, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Gosar. They were joined by two Democrats: Rep. Ilhan Omar (Minnesota) and Cori Bush (Mo.).
The Democrats picked up on the voices, portraying the Republicans as a pro-Moscow caucus.
“The GOP’s pro-Putin faction is anti-democratic,” the Democratic National Campaign Committee said in a tweet reply on votes against the War Crimes Evidence Act.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (DN.Y.) joked that “Republicans are Putin-curious,” while Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) expressed Disbelief: “Can you imagine voting against the reporting and preservation of evidence of Putin’s war crimes?” Can you imagine?”
It becomes a central line of attack. Hakeem Jeffreies (DN.Y.), the leader of the House Democratic faction, identified a “pro-Putin faction” among Republicans in a press briefing last week.
Republicans who voted against the measures, which overall had overwhelming GOP support, have expressed concern about unintended effects of the bills.
They argued that they could lead to more inflation or, in the case of the war crimes measure, would cede US authority to international courts.
“It is not ‘pro-Putin’ to observe second- and third-order consequences of laws that go far beyond the stated scope,” Gaetz said called in a Thursday tweet.
Roy, Greene, Gaetz and others who voted against the Energy Sanctions Act expressed concerns that blocking energy imports would contribute to higher prices for gas and other commodities.
“All the current legislation will do is bolster adversaries like Iran and Venezuela while keeping American consumers stuck at the pump with higher prices,” Roy said in a statement.
Massie said he opposes the War Crimes Act because it could provide a president to assess US troops for war crimes in Afghanistan for accidental bombings or drone strikes. He also said that provisions that extend executive powers that are “too broad” to impose sanctions on those the president believes have been implicated in human rights abuses constitute “legislative misconduct.”
When asked about the accusations of being pro-Putin for such votes, Massie paraphrased a line in a 2014 comment by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger: “Defaming Putin is not foreign policy. It’s an alibi for the lack of one.”
Perry and Biggs expressed concern about sovereignty in the bill, which would mandate that war crimes information be collected. The bill provides for the information to be retained for possible use in “international courts,” but the United States does not recognize the authority of the International Criminal Court. They pointed to the risk that US troops would be subjected to international jurisdiction if the government recognized international courts for other countries.
Bigggs said it was “wrong” to call his position po-Putin. “Russia had no provocation,” he said.
“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal who should be tried for war crimes, but Americans deserve to be fully informed of what this law says and does, and not just be guided by the flashy title,” Perry said in a statement.
Opposition to the bills is buoying critics who say these voices, along with recent comments from high-profile Republicans, expose a Russian-sympathetic faction in the party.
Former President Trump had previously called Putin a “genius,” prompting some Republicans to distance themselves. In a Wednesday interview with the Washington Post, Trump said Putin “overdid his hand” by invading the country.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (RN.C.), who this week voted in favor of the three Russia-related bills up for a vote in the House of Representatives this week, faced backlash from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). after describing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “thug”.
Davidson said he was “certainly not pro-Russia,” noting his previous criticism of the war.
“It kind of comes with the whole narrative, like the rush to get involved in a war that we’re not actually directly involved in,” Davidson said, but added that “we should support them.”
Greene said fears of escalation and US intervention were behind her opposition.
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“Possibly that could lead us to World War III, which none of us want,” she said in a video taken after Thursday’s votes. “While we are heartbroken and praying for the people of Ukraine and we are all against the war that is taking place there, they should push Putin and Zelenskyy to the negotiating table to negotiate peace and end the war. These sanctions will not do that.”
The votes against Omar and Bush’s oil, coal and gas import ban at least reinforce the argument about the law that Republican opposition to the law signaled Putin sympathy.
When an earlier version was voted on last month, Omar had raised concerns about how the ban on energy imports would affect human suffering in Russia, and Bush said she was concerned it would lead to more oil and gas drilling in the US would lead.