Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio sent a memo to his fellow Republicans Monday arguing that a proposed Ukraine funding bill could ultimately be setting up former President Donald Trump for another impeachment if he gets elected and pauses the foreign aid.
The Ohio Republican argued that if the $95 billion emergency funding bill gets passed, Mr. Trump could face impeachment if he tries to pause the funding after he potentially takes over the Oval Office in 2025.
“The supplemental represents an attempt by the foreign policy blob/deep state to stop President Trump from pursuing his desired policy, and if he does so anyways, to provide grounds to impeach him and undermine his administration. All Republicans should oppose its passage,” the memo read.
Mr. Trump was impeached in 2019 after the then-Democratic-led House voted that he abused his power by pressuring Ukraine to announce an investigation into Democrat Joseph R. Biden and his son Hunter while also withholding nearly $400 million in aid. Mr. Biden was heading into a 2020 general election contest against Mr. Trump.
Mr. Vance is arguing that the new aid bill holds an “impeachment time bomb for the next Trump presidency,” and that there could be a repeat of the 2019 impeachment.
“This new Ukraine bill tries to make it Illegal for Trump to do what he is promising on the campaign trail,” Mr. Vance wrote on X Monday. “It is a plot against the President Trump, plain and simple.”
Mr. Trump has openly criticized the foreign aid bill that would send money to Ukraine and other U.S. allies including Israel. The former president suggested that the money should be given as a loan instead.
“We should never give money anymore without the hope of a payback, or without ’strings’ attached. The United States of America should be ’stupid’ no longer!” he wrote on Truth Social in all caps.
The Senate is expected to hold a vote on the bill sometime later Monday. It then needs to pass the House, a prospect which is up in the air.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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