Rubio and Scott Short Sighted in Aid Vote

After a contentious debate in Congress, President Biden signed the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024 bill into law. The aid package, designed to help the beleaguered U.S. ally continue its effort to survive the murderous Russian military incursion, was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate earlier this week.

Among those who voted against the bill were Florida’s senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. No strangers to sacrificing principle for political expediency, Rubio and Scott are once again attempting to curry favor with Donald Trump, a Ukraine aid skeptic. Their history of pandering to Trump is well-documented.

Scott, we may remember, breached his oath of office during Trump’s first impeachment proceeding, when in contravention to the neutrality condition in Article I of the Constitution, he expressed his intention to vote for acquittal before trial in the Senate even began.

Rubio, once a harsh Trump critic, refused to say that Trump was wrong when he attempted to stop Congress from fulfilling its constitutional duty of confirming then President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

Rubio and Scott’s votes against aid were short sided. There is much more at stake than the survival of a sovereign democratic ally. America’s reputation, alliances and national security interests are all on the line.

Jim Paladino
Tampa