Other Democrats said the anti-Ukraine sentiments of Mr. Gaetz and other Republicans on the Hill are transparently attributable to the party’s dominant voice. “I just think these guys are with Trump,” said Representative Zoe Lofgren, a House manager of Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial, which centered on his phone call strong-arming Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky over military aid.
“I think Trump has made clear that he supports Putin and other authoritarian leaders,” Ms. Lofgren said, referring to a recent CNN town hall with Mr. Trump. “You saw how he refused to say he wants Ukraine to win the war.”
Mr. Vance insisted that the G.O.P. opposition to aiding Ukraine was not fueled by fealty to Mr. Trump. Still, he acknowledged that his party had left itself open to some cynical interpretations, saying, “We do lack a sort of coherent strategic view of what American foreign policy should be.” It was also true, Mr. Vance added, that “some of my more Ukraine-skeptical colleagues will say things like, ‘They impeached Trump over a phone call.’ There is a recognition, at least from my side, that domestic politics drives the way that we respond to this stuff.”
The political currents are already evident among some pro-Ukraine Republicans, if only by inference. Representative Michael McCaul, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement to The New York Times that while members in his party “largely support” assisting Ukraine, “continued support goes hand in hand with increased oversight.” (In an interview, Representative Michael Turner, Republican of Ohio and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, seemed to suggest that such scrutiny of the Ukrainian funding was unwarranted, saying, “I can tell you we have full accounting of all the military aid to Ukraine.”)
So far, defying the Republican base by supporting aid to Ukraine does not appear to be politically detrimental to G.O.P. incumbents.
“Not at this time,” said Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, a vociferous foe of assisting Ukraine and a loyalist of Mr. Trump. “But I’ll be speaking at many of the Trump rallies, and you can bet that I’ll be heavily messaging against the war in Ukraine and anyone who’s funding it. And I guarantee you that’s going to be moving the needle.”
