McCarthy Stripping Ukraine Aid from Spending Bills

Quote:

---

House Republican leadership continues to make sweeping changes to the D.C. landscape, and it’s latest rumored proposal promises to deliver more of the same.

Representative Ralph Norman (R-SC), told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview that he suspects House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is prepared to remove Ukraine-aid spending from other spending bills on the floor for a vote. This would include bills like the recent omnibus spending package and stop-gap funding bills, both of which were rammed through Democrat-majority chambers late last fall.

Now, Ukraine aid would potentially have to come to the floor as a single-issue bill, and its survival in a Republican-led House is anything but certain.

Norman was asked if the House Rules Committee, which features conservative stalwarts Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Chip Roy (R-TX), would remove any future Ukraine appropriations from the other must-pass spending bills, the South Carolina congressman succinctly stated that “[w]e’re going to make sure it happens.”

He continued: “If it’s spending American dollars, then each representative is going to have to take a vote on it. We’re simply not going to let them bundle it up on something completely off the radar with having anything to do with where the money’s going.”

Norman said that McCarthy has indicated he is no longer willing to offer Ukraine a mere “blank check” for more aid.

“On Ukraine, we need to know where it’s going. Accountability should have been before money was even allocated. But it wasn’t. And we got to make sure that it’s accurate,” Norman said of part of the justification for removing carte blanche access to American funds. 

“Secondly, we’ve got to get other countries involved. I mean, America…money we don’t have. This is just adding to the national debt, which is the product which is the Achilles Heel for this country,” Normal added.

Norman also gave a lot of credit to Kevin McCarthy for his willingness to listen to and support more conservative wings of the lower chamber. McCarthy has also placed prominent Freedom Caucus members on influential committees.

Last January, McCarthy endured a contentious Speaker vote, one that last a historical 15 rounds before finally earning a majority vote from his Republican colleagues. It is believed that he only won holdouts such as Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ), who voted “present” rather than for someone else and thus lowered the necessary vote total to secure the Speakership, by offering significant concessions to their freedom caucus.

Among the many things set in motion already have been a bill to eliminate the federal income tax and IRS, as well as the more recent news that he was providing Tucker Carlson and his producers with over 40,000 hours of footage from January 6th. 

Carlson has promised to release excerpts and commentary over the coming weeks.

---