Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance: Mitch McConnell Slipped A ‘Hidden Impeachment Clause’ Against Trump Into Ukraine Spending
A Ukraine aid supplemental negotiated by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate GOP leadership includes a provision setting the stage for a potential third impeachment of Donald Trump, according to Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
“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,” Vance wrote in a letter sent to congressional Republicans on Monday. “All Republicans should oppose its passage.”
Vance’s letter is in reference to a $95 billion aid package advanced by the Senate on Sunday, which includes funding for (mostly) Ukraine, as well as Israel and Taiwan. Noticeably, the measure — which was supported by 18 Republicans — does not address the ongoing invasion at the U.S. southern border.
According to Vance, the package includes a provision that would not only allow the “foreign policy blob” to pour U.S. taxpayer dollars into Ukraine well into Trump’s potential second term, but it would also provide congressional Democrats with a bogus reason to impeach the former president (again) should he follow through on his pledge to end the ongoing conflict.
Buried within the supplemental advanced by the Senate is $13.7 billion for the Defense Department’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. As highlighted by Vance, House Democrats impeached Trump in 2019 over the latter’s decision to withhold foreign aid to Ukraine, including “$250 million through the … Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.” Desperate to damage their primary political opponent, Democrats outlandishly claimed this constituted a “quid-pro-quo” because Trump expressed concern during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over then-candidate Joe Biden’s family’s corrupt foreign dealings in the European nation.
According to Vance, the aforementioned Ukraine funds “expire on September 30, 2025 — nearly a year into the possible second term of President Trump,” meaning if the Republican president were to follow through on his pledge to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict and halt funding to Kyiv, the supplemental would provide Democrats with the opportunity to launch another bogus impeachment hoax.
“If President Trump were to withdraw from or pause financial support for the war in Ukraine in order to bring the conflict to a peaceful conclusion, ‘over the objections of career experts,’” as Democrats claimed in their 2019 impeachment of Trump, “it would amount to the same fake violation of budget law from the first impeachment, under markedly similar facts and circumstances,” Vance wrote. An anonymous U.S. official told The Washington Post last month that the Biden administration is hoping to provide “’future-proof’ aid for Ukraine against the possibility that former president Donald Trump wins his reelection bid.”
The Senate’s procedural approval of the $95 billion foreign aid supplemental comes days following the collapse of a horrid border bill. Crafted in secrecy by McConnell and Senate GOP leadership, that legislation included roughly three times as much funding for Ukraine than U.S. border security and sought to effectively enshrine Biden’s existing border crisis into law.
In addition to his letter, Vance also penned an op-ed in The American Conservative in which he highlighted how McConnell and Co.’s “quick pivot” from U.S. border to solely foreign aid funding shows that “Republican leadership wasn’t serious about border security.”
“The deal, as envisioned by conservatives, was apparently never on the table. According to both Democratic colleagues and some Republicans, this is because Republican leadership—specifically Mitch McConnell—refused to push the Democrats on this issue,” Vance wrote. “Given its substance, it is hardly surprising that [Trump] opposed the deal, but most Republicans opposed the deal well before he weighed in—publicly or privately.”
“So the deal fell apart, and the way it fell apart was the height of political malpractice,” he continued. “The text—370 pages of it—dropped late Sunday, February 4. We had a Republican conference meeting on Monday, well before anyone had time to digest major provisions. McConnell left the meeting and praised the bill but criticized the changing political dynamics. He blamed Donald Trump. He blamed the House of Representatives.”
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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