‘Ukraine is not the end,’ Romney warns as Utah’s senators split on emergency foreign aid

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WASHINGTON — Utah’s Republican senators are split on a $95 billion foreign aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan on Monday, with Sen. Mitt Romney in favor and Sen. Mike Lee against a procedural measure to advance the package.

Romney was forceful during a floor speech in support of the proposal, and said the Senate’s vote on the package is “the most important vote we will ever take as United States senators.” He added that, “If your position is being cheered by (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, it’s time to reconsider your position.”

“We are not being asked to send American troops into war, only to help the Ukrainians defend themselves,” Romney said in a social media post. “If we fail to help Ukraine, Putin will invade a NATO nation. Ukraine is not the end, it is a step — and letting Putin have his way with Europe would jeopardize our security.”

The proposal was up for debate and procedural votes Monday evening, where some GOP opponents plan to filibuster debate and push back a vote possibly until early Tuesday morning.

Lee joined a pair of GOP senators and a former presidential candidate Monday afternoon on a social media discussion to explain their opposition to the bill and answer questions from billionaire Elon Musk.

Lee — who spent hours in a filibuster against the bill over the weekend — complained that Senate leadership was preventing senators from offering individual amendments to the bill during a live discussion on X, formerly known as Twitter. Sens. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, also participated, along with businessman and former GOP presidential candidate and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Lee also criticized Senate leadership for not addressing border security before sending money to Ukraine, despite playing a key role in killing a bipartisan bill on border security and foreign aid. After several Republicans objected to a package to limit crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border and send wartime aid to Israel and Ukraine, the Senate moved ahead with HR815 — which contains $95 billion in emergency aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan alone.

“All Republican senators made a commitment to each other and to our voters and our states that we wouldn’t send another dime to Ukraine until such time as we had actually forced the issue of border security,” said Lee, who went on to say a vote for the bill is “certainly a vote for increased homelessness, death by overdose” and would “undermine law enforcement and the rule of law.”

Lee also said the bill would hurt the United States’ national security by depleting its weapons stockpile, and Musk appeared opposed to ongoing spending for a war without a clear path to a resolution.

“Ukraine is losing people every day, and if you’re going to spend lives, that must be for a purpose and not just a mile here, a mile there,” Musk said. “The lines aren’t moving. So, just every day, people die. For what purpose?”

“This spending does not help Ukraine, prolonging the war does not help Ukraine,” he said later.

The discussion on X came shortly before the Senate met to hold a procedural vote on the bill, which is expected to pass through the chamber as soon as Wednesday.

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Bridger Beal-Cvetko covers Utah politics, Salt Lake County communities and breaking news for KSL.com. He is a graduate of Utah Valley University.