Rep. Greg Pence and his staff have a messaging problem. Part of it is overexuberance about issuing political zingers as policy statements. But it’s hard to spin Pence’s vote against humanitarian aid for Ukrainians suffering amid a Russian bloodbath.
Pence did vote last week for military aid for Ukraine and to shut off imports of Russian oil, but he later voted against a broader funding package. The Republic’s Andy East reported that the measure Pence voted “no” on “included the humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees and provisions to keep U.S. government agencies functioning through Sept. 30. Those measures cleared the House in a 260-171 vote with most Republicans opposed, including Pence.”
Pence voted against billions of dollars in U.S. humanitarian aid for the more than 2 million refugees fleeing Russian bombs and missiles falling on Ukrainian civilians. No amount of spinning can change that. The aid passed the Senate and was signed by President Joe Biden, no thanks to Pence or the rest of Indiana’s GOP House delegation, who all voted as he did.
The United States stands united with Europe and our international allies at the precipice of a potentially wider war against the pariah Vladimir Putin. We see daily the carnage his rogue Russian state is inflicting on a heroic, defiant nation.
But even at this moment, Pence put party politics first. Before his votes, Pence’s office sent out an official statement in which he said, “I am fully prepared to vote against” the entire bill.
Perhaps Pence and his staff did not realize this signaled he might vote against aid for Ukraine entirely. But they did realize an opportunity to flog a political adversary. “At approximately 3:04 AM, I received a 2,741-page, 1.5 TRILLION- dollar spending bill that I am expected to vote on in the next few hours,” the statement said. “Nancy Pelosi crafted this bill behind closed doors in the dead of night and is trying to cram it down the American peoples’ throats. This is WRONG, and I am fully prepared to vote against it. Now more than ever it’s time for change in Congress and new leadership in the House — and this out of control spending is all the more reason to fire Nancy Pelosi.”
Despite Pence’s characterization of Pelosi as a wizard who waves a wand and — presto! — a giant spending bill appears, this resulted from bipartisan negotiation. Pence just wasn’t among those negotiating. And if he didn’t know what was in the bill, that’s a problem. Our tax dollars pay congressional aides who — we presume even in Pence’s office — know how to quickly analyze complex legislation. If Pence has a problem with particular spending in the bill, his constituents deserve an explanation of what he’s against.
Days before voting against humanitarian aid for Ukraine, Pence put out a real whopper in a statement calling for legislation to open up more domestic oil drilling. That’s a good debate to have, but again, Pence put politics first to the point of dishonesty.
“This difficult situation we face today is a direct result of Joe Biden’s far-left agenda that shut down domestic energy production,” it said. Fact check: Pants on fire. U.S. oil production is projected to increase this year and hit a record in 2023.
Constituents deserve honest communication from our representatives in Washington. We’re not getting it from Rep. Pence and his staff.
