Key Republicans call for more aid to Ukraine

Biden to speak with G7 one year after Russia's invasion

Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for February 24, 2023:

• Republicans fume as Democrats boycott border hearing.

• Federal appeals court wrestles with Jan. 6 case.

• Grassley tells ex-Architect to pay up.

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UKRAINE. One year after Russia invaded Ukraine, three leading House Republicans very publicly declared on Thursday that it’s time for the Biden Administration to provide even more advanced weaponry to Ukraine’s military. "Putin’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine has lasted a year too long," the GOP group argued.

• TRIO. In a statement, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) - who chair the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence committees - said holding back on defense aid helps no one. "Continued half-measures by the Biden administration will only drive up the cost of this war in lives and dollars.”

• SENATE. That echoes a point made often by Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, who continues to strongly support military aid for Ukraine - arguing it's a worthwhile investment for the U.S. taxpayer against Russia. "My biggest criticism of the President is he seems not to have done enough soon enough," McConnell said recently.

CHINA. Other Republicans argue China should be the focus for the U.S. military. "They want us to believe we can fight an endless proxy war in Ukraine," Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said in a Thursday speech in Washington. "If China were to invade Taiwan today, they would prevail," Hawley said - a claim made last year about Russia and Ukraine.

• AMERICA FIRST. For the Trump wing of the Republican Party, the one-year mark is a reminder that the U.S. should be spending money on border security here at home - not in Europe. “Ukraine's border is the only border that matters to Washington,” fumed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

• COALITION. Despite those opposing voices, there still seems to be strong support overall in the Congress for helping Ukraine. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has devastated Russia’s military, weakening an adversary,” said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT). “That’s a good thing!”

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TODAY. President Biden will mark the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine by holding a virtual meeting with leaders of the G7 nations - joining that video call will be President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, as the West continues to coordinate its aid for Kyiv against Moscow.

• AID. "The G7 has become an anchor of our strong and united response to Russia," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "We thank Japan, the new G7 President, for its recent pledge to provide Ukraine with an additional $5.5 billion in economic assistance."

• SANCTIONS. The White House says more specific economic sanctions will be unveiled today as well, targeting Russian banks, defense and technology companies, as well as groups in other countries which are trying to help Moscow evade Western sanctions.

• ONE YEAR LATER. Let's be honest - pretty much every military expert thought the Russians would take over Ukraine quickly and set up their own puppet regime. But a combination of a resourceful Ukrainian defense combined with a hollow Russian military has produced a much different result so far.

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BORDER BATTLE. As expected, Republicans used a hearing in Yuma, Arizona on Thursday to blast Democrats for not listening to the concerns of local officials about the impact of illegal immigration. "It's a shame that not one Democrat member of Congress would join us on this trip despite having weeks of advance notice," said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

• GOP. With no Democratic lawmakers in attendance, the House Judiciary Committee hearing swiftly took on the feeling of a GOP political rally, with loud applause for just about every Republican on the panel, especially when they attacked President Biden or Congressional Democrats.

• AWOL. "They owe it to you to be here today," Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) said of Democrats. "They owe it to America to debate these issues." "How does it make our schools better to pack classrooms with non-English speaking students?" asked Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA).

• DRUGS. Republicans also countered an argument from Democrats about the flow of illegal drugs - saying it is happening in large quantities between official ports of entry along the border. "It's a crisis for our entire nation," said Rep. Barry Moore (R-AL).

• DEMS. From far away, Democrats taunted the GOP, pointing out the inability of House Republicans to pass a border policy bill - which Speaker Kevin McCarthy promised would happen in the first days of the new Congress. But Democrats are sure to hear about not showing up - over and over and over again.

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BORDER POLITICS. With Congress in perpetual gridlock on immigration, it should be no surprise that we have reached this point. "Neither party can muster a policy solution on immigration so both turn to performative politics to signal their positions and intensity," said Josh Huder, a political expert with Georgetown University.

• WHAT'S NEXT. My column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks at how nothing major has happened - in terms of immigration policy - since the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli bill. Unfortunately, the Congress seems headed for another year of yelling - and getting nothing done.

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SBF-FTX. The Justice Department filed updated charges on Thursday in federal court against Sam Bankman-Fried, the cryptocurrency kingpin whose FTX exchange went bankrupt - and the new documents provided more evidence of a scandal with tentacles that reaches into politics, involving a conspiracy 'to help pass legislation favorable to FTX.'

• MONEY TALKS. In the updated indictment, the feds say Bankman-Fried didn't want to be personally seen as favoring Democrats more than Republicans or vice versa. So, he schemed with two people - identified officially only as Co-Conspirator-1 (CC-1) and Co-Conspirator-2 (CC-2) - to make the donations to candidates instead.

• WOKE MONEY. The indictment quotes a political consultant working for Bankman-Fried as telling CC-1, he would be the name behind money going to more liberal candidates. "In general, you being the center left face of our spending will mean you giving to a lot of woke shit for transactional purposes."

• GOP. On the other side, Bankman-Fried found a more Republican person - CC-2, 'who publicly aligned himself with conservatives' to make the contributions to GOP candidates. The money for all of this came out of Alameda Research - a sister company to FTX. But the money was hidden as loans to CC-1 and CC-2.

• LAWMAKERS. No members of Congress have been implicated in anything so far. But I still wonder whether there is more to this case. Or, it could be this was just someone awash in cash, who tried to buy a lot of influence on Capitol Hill.

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REGULAR ORDER. With the Congress due back next week, there’s no better time to subscribe to ‘Regular Order.’ The next few months are going to be a little nuts, I suspect. Treat yourself, or give someone a gift subscription, and support independent journalism on Capitol Hill. Or you can just buy me a drink after another odd week.

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JANUARY 6. A federal appeals court in Washington heard arguments on Thursday on whether investigators should be able to get access to the cellphone of Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), as part of the investigation into the January 6 attack by supporters of Donald Trump. Perry says the Constitution's Speech or Debate clause allows him to withhold any evidence.

• ARGUMENTS. Perry's lawyer, John Rowley, argued to a three-judge appeals panel that basically anything Perry did was covered by that clause. That didn't really wash with Judge Gregory Katsas. "What we're talking about here seems a bit far afield from speech or debate," the judge said at one point.

• FEDS. But the judges didn't exactly seem open to the arguments of federal prosecutors, either. Back in August of last year, the FBI seized Perry's phone, as part of a probe into his involvement in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election - but the feds still don't have permission to go through the data.

• SEALED V. SEALED. Little is known about the details of this case so far because the case is sealed from the public. The proceedings yesterday were officially titled, "In Re: Sealed Case." But reporters got wind of it, and asked a judge to open the arguments - and we were able to listen in yesterday.

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VIVA DE LA SANTOS. The protests and the calls for Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to resign from Congress continue. But yesterday brought a unique social media twist courtesy of the New York Republican, who was clearly taking a jab at one of his critics.

• CONSTITUENT SERVICES. "I want to personally thank @JoshLafazan for stopping by my Douglaston office today," Santos wrote on Twitter. "It was great to sit down & discuss the concerns that were addressed in the letter he brought in."

• PROTEST. That was a bit tongue in cheek. Lafazan is a Nassau County state legislator, who does not like Santos. "Let's be very clear," Lafazan tweeted back at Santos. "I did not "stop by" your office. I hosted a protest *outside* your office calling on you to resign."

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BLANTON. The former Architect of the Capitol got an unwelcome missive from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) this week, as Grassley asked J. Brett Blanton to pay the federal government almost $14,000 for his family's use of his government vehicle, and other ethics violations. "You must be held accountable for that behavior," Grassley wrote.

• REPORT. In his letter, Grassley rattled off the transgressions committed by Blanton while serving as Architect of the Capitol, as detailed in an internal report. "Government employees exist to serve the people, not fleece them," Grassley wrote.

• AOC. Blanton was fired by President Biden earlier this month, after ignoring calls by lawmakers in both parties to resign.

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TAR HEEL. This week brought the news of the death of former Congressman and Senator Jim Broyhill, a veteran Republican from North Carolina. I knew who Broyhill was from his days on Capitol Hill, but we only met after he left Congress - when he heard me on the radio, and sent me an email. We exchanged a number of notes about politics and his time in Congress. He was 95.

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MUSE OF HISTORY.  February 24, 1919.  On this date, Sen. Robert Owen of Oklahoma called for better ventilation in the Senate chamber, arguing the air being pumped in was 'filled with impure bacterial life.'  "I believe it has contributed to the mortality of men in this body," Owen said, presenting a list of 36 Senators who had died in office in the past 12 years.  Not everyone was convinced there was a problem.  "I think the chief thing from which we suffer in the Senate is 'hot air,'" said Sen. Charles Thomas of Colorado.  The Senate agreed to a resolution asking officials to review questions about fresh air - an issue which dogged the Senate for many years.

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LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:

The House has votes on Monday.

The Senate will have votes on Monday.

President Biden’s daily schedule link.

Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com

If you want to say ‘thanks’ - you can buy me a cup of coffee.