Gaetz co-sponsoring measure to prevent Biden from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said Monday he will co-sponsor a measure to block President Biden from sending cluster bombs to Ukraine, joining a small group of Democrats on an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

“I will be the Republican co-sponsor on the NDAA amendment introduced by [Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.)] to stop the transfer of cluster bombs. These cluster bombs will not end the war in Ukraine and will not build a more stable country,” Gaetz wrote in a tweet, which included a video clip from his podcast. “Children will be left without limbs and without parents because of this decision if we do not work together in a bipartisan fashion to stop it.”

“Cluster bombs are features of the world’s bloodiest and most inhumane wars, and some of the longest. It’s hardly the cornerstone of a path to peace,” he said in the video.

Biden’s announcement that he would send Ukraine cluster munitions has been among the most controversial decisions he’s made yet. Cluster munitions are banned in several countries because of the risk they pose to civilians. Biden has defended the decision, saying he believes Ukraine needs them, but he acknowledged the difficulty in reaching his conclusion.

Members of Biden’s own party have been split on the decision, and Jacobs’s amendment to the NDAA is one of the latest efforts to push back against the decision. Gaetz’s move to co-sponsor the amendment could give additional weight to it, although it’s unlikely that the amendment will result in any change in policy. 

The top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), indicated his support for Biden’s move in an interview over the weekend and said the cluster munitions could possibly be a “game changer” in the war.

“They want these as self-defense to use against Russians in their own country of Ukraine. I don’t see anything wrong with that because, quite honestly … as you look at the counteroffensive, it’s been slowed tremendously because this administration has been so slow to get the weapons in,” McCaul said Sunday.

The Gaetz-backed amendment is only one of hundreds of amendments to the NDAA, which is expected to be taken up and debated on the floor of the House this month.