Senate Republican argues Ukraine funding could lead to Trump impeachment

Republican Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) argued Monday that the latest Senate proposal to fund Ukraine and Israel could spark an impeachment of former President Trump if he is reelected in November.

Vance sent a memo to each of his Republican colleagues in the Senate, claiming “an impeachment time bomb” is “buried” in the bill’s text in the case Trump should try to halt funding for Ukraine while president.

“The supplemental represents an attempt by the foreign policy blob/deep state to stop President Trump from pursuing his desired policy, and if he does so anyways, to provide grounds to impeach him and undermine his administration,” Vance wrote in his memo, calling for all Republicans to oppose the bill’s passage.

The proposed aid for Ukraine totals $60 billion and is part of a larger $95.3 billion package that also includes funding for Israel in its fight against Palestinian militant group Hamas, humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and funds for U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific.

In his memo, Vance contended the foreign aid bill includes $1.6 billion for foreign military financing in Ukraine and $13.7 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which both are slated to expire Sept. 30, 2025, nearly nine months into the possible second term for Trump.

He pointed to the December 2019 impeachment of Trump, when the Democratic House majority impeached the former president for his dealings with Ukraine, including decisions to pause funding to Kyiv. The Senate later voted to acquit Trump on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in February 2020. 

The Ohio Republican, a staunch ally of the former president, argued if Trump were to withdraw or pause financial support for Ukraine’s war “in order to bring the conflict to a peaceful conclusion,” lawmakers could argue he violated budget law, as they did with the prior impeachment.

Trump has repeatedly claimed he could end Ukraine’s war with Russia in 24 hours and has called for a pause in aid to the war-torn country in the past as the conflict approaches its two-year mark.

The former president lambasted the Senate’s foreign aid bill over the weekend.

“They want to give like almost $100 billion to a few countries, $100 billion,” Trump said at a rally in South Carolina. “I said, ‘Why do we do this? If you do, you give them, not $100 billion, you give it to ‘em as a loan.'”

The Senate voted to move the package one step closer to its final passage Sunday, dipping into what was supposed to be a two-week recess.

The bill comes after the dramatic collapse of a bipartisan border security package due to GOP opposition. Trump also urged Senate Republicans to oppose that bill, which he called a “death wish” package, causing some lawmakers to accuse the former president of using it as an issue to campaign against President Biden.

The final vote to pass the foreign aid bill is expected in the Senate this week.