Kentucky rep. Thomas Massie has been called out over his voting record and links to Russia down the years ahead of the House vote to provide additional military support for Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed the lower chamber will be voting on three foreign aid bills on Saturday, including one which will provide nearly $61 billion for Ukraine to aid its defense against Russia's invasion.
The Ukraine funding proposals have been met with outcry from hardline members of the House GOP, including Massie and Georgia rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who are both supporting the introduction of a motion to vacate against Johnson for attempting to push the foreign aid bill through the House.
Ahead of Saturday's vote in the House, a number of social media users have criticized Massie for not backing additional aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, while noting his voting record in support of Moscow.
While sharing a clip of Massie saying he will support a motion to vacate Johnson over the Ukraine funding bill, author Dean Gloster posted on X, formerly Twitter: "Your quiet reminder that Thomas Massie is the most pro-Putin legislator of the 6 most pro-Putin Republicans in the House."
Gloster's post included a February 2022 article from The Hill which notes Massie was one of just six House members who voted against a bill to call on the government to collect evidence "related to war crimes and other atrocities committed during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine."
Massie was also just one of three House members to vote "no" on a bill to end normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus, which has supported Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, as well as a bill to ban imports of Russian oil, coal and gas.
Several other social media users have also reshared a March 2022 article from Rolling Stone entitled: "Thomas Massie, Long a Friend to Russia, Votes Against Resolution Supporting Ukraine".
The article notes how Massie was one of three House members who voted against a bipartisan resolution in which the lower chamber said they would stand "steadfastly, staunchly, proudly, and fervently behind the Ukrainian people in their fight against the authoritarian Putin regime."
The Rolling Stone article also notes that in 2017, Massie had met with Maria Butina, a Russian citizen who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2019 after admitting to acting as an unregistered foreign agent to infiltrate conservative political groups and influence foreign policy to Russia's benefit before and after the 2016 election.
Soon after Butina was arrested, Massie wrote an opinion piece for Real Clear Politics in August 2018 claiming that America's "Russophobic rhetoric seems to have turned into a witch hunt."
In a post on X, historian Timothy Snyder wrote while sharing the Rolling Stone article: "Worth recalling that Rep. Massie socialized with Russian spies and defended one in the press."
In reply, Sanho Tree, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, highlighted the article's section on Butina. "They all knew Maria Butina, the Russian operative who infiltrated the NRA to manipulate Republicans. She was sent to jail and returned home to Russia to become a politician & internet troll.
"Moscow Massie has a lot of explaining to do due to his spotless voting record for Russia."
Massie's office has been contacted by Newsweek for comment via email.
President Joe Biden said he would "immediately" sign into law Johnson's proposed funding package to provide support for Ukraine, as well an additional bill to back Israel in its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas and attacks from Iran, if they clear the House and the Senate.
In a post on X, Massie said: "Biden backs Johnson's plan because Johnson's plan is Biden's plan."
Speaking in the Capitol, Massie claimed that the motion to vacate against Johnson "is going to get called" and that the House Speaker is going to "lose more votes than Kevin McCarthy," in reference to Johnson's predecessor who was ousted after eight House Republicans joined the Democrats in supporting a motion to vacate in October 2023.
When asked if he is worried about his future as House Speaker on Wednesday, Johnson replied: "My philosophy is you do the right thing and you let the chips fall where they may. If I operated out of fear of a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job.
"History judges us for what we do. This is a critical time right now—a critical time on the world stage."
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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