February 23, 2024
Mr. Fitzpatrick Goes To Ukraine
by Hal Wright

After failing to produce any tangible results for our allies and our border security, Rep. Fitzpatrick spent our tax money to obtain a photo-op with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Here's the sordid timeline.

October 24, 2023: Brian Fitzpatrick votes for election denier Mike Johnson, whom he describes as "spiritual and humble," as Speaker of the House.

February 5, 2024: In a demonstration of fealty to Donald Trump, Mike Johnson preemptively kills a Senate bipartisan bill which supported Ukraine, Israel, and southern border security, declaring it dead on arrival in the House.

February 6, 2024: House Republicans fail in an attempt to pass an Israel-only aid bill. Fitzpatrick votes in favor of the bill, throwing Ukraine under the bus.

February 11, 2024: Trump says he’d let Russia do "whatever the hell they want" to NATO countries that don’t pay enough.

February 13, 2024: The Senate passes the bipartisan bill 70-29, prompting President Biden to call for a vote in the House and to condemn Trump for his comments.

February 15, 2024: Congress recesses without approving any aid for Ukraine, Israel, and border security. President Biden asks, "What are they thinking?"

February 15, 2024: Brian Fitzpatrick touts a watered-down House bill to fund Ukraine, Israel, and the southern border, which faces a steep uphill path to becoming law in both the House and Senate.

February 22, 2024: Brian Fitzpatrick spends taxpayer money on a useless junket to Ukraine and Israel.

In the bizarre quantum mechanics of Fitzpatrick's Republican party, the situation at the southern border is both an existential crisis and so unimportant that addressing it can be delayed until after the November election, to prevent President Biden from claiming he did something about it.

Meantime, Ukraine faces a genuine existential crisis as it runs out of ammunition in its fight with Putin's Russia. Republicans shrug (at best) or oppose any support for Ukraine (at worst).

Fitzpatrick has built his political career in no small part by pledging support for Ukraine, Israel, and strong border security. Due to his party's dysfunction, distraction, and fealty to Donald Trump, he has been ineffective at delivering on these promises. A junket abroad will not clear the Republican logjam here at home, nor will Fitzpatrick's long record of supporting the most extreme elements in his party.

The remedy is a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate.