Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a Republican, sharply criticized the Senate’s passage of a $95 billion foreign aid package Tuesday night, labeling it “wrong,” “shameful,” and a “sad day for America.” The package, which includes $61 billion to support Ukraine’s war against Russia, $26 billion for Israel, and nearly $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific and Taiwan, was approved by a 79 to 18 vote and now heads to President Biden for his signature.
Lee, who has been a vocal critic of U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts, took particular issue with the aid for Ukraine, arguing that it is “spending money that doesn’t belong to them.” The senator posted a series of messages on social media, accusing the Republican Party of siding with Democrats to pass the measure and neglecting the needs of the American people.
“Americans are about to be made nearly $100 billion poorer,” Lee said Tuesday night on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Not to secure our own borders. But to secure the borders of other countries. Republicans—spurred by Republican leadership in both chambers—gladly advanced the Democrats’ agenda. Neglecting our own. This is shameful.”
In a video attached to the post, Lee said this was a “sad day for America.” In another video, he said Republicans “can do better” than to accept GOP lawmakers in Washington who “act like Democrats.”
“It is time to expect more, it is time to expect freedom,” he wrote. “They think they’re Churchill,” Lee said in another post. “They’re congratulating themselves for spending money that doesn’t belong to them—money we don’t have and will have to borrow and print. Spending other people’s money to fight someone else’s war—against their will—isn’t heroic. It’s cowardice.”
Lee went on to say that the bill is not “heroic” or “brave.” “It’s wrong,” he said. In response to Biden’s statement commending the passage of the bill, the Republican senator said the measure will lead to more Ukrainian deaths.
“Mr. President, I believe that this bill will prolong a bloody conflict and cost more Ukrainians their lives, even as their cause is righteous,” Lee wrote. “I also believe that you do want to end the killing. Can we work to establish a negotiated peace in Ukraine?” Lee’s criticism of the foreign aid package reflects the growing opposition within the Republican Party to U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts. Many Republicans have argued that the United States should focus on its own problems and that providing aid to other countries is not in the best interests of the American people.
