The resolution, which cleared the chamber on a bipartisan vote of 95-1, was a top priority for the Republican leader, who wanted to send a message about the direction of a GOP that had drifted toward isolationism under former President Trump. Trump throughout his presidency has been a critic of NATO. It was part of the “America First” agenda that resonated with parts of the Republican base after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also divided Republican officials. McConnell visited war-torn Ukraine with a congressional delegation in May and made stops in Finland and Sweden during that trip. During the debate over whether these countries would join NATO, he argued that doing so made the US stronger, not weaker. The GOP leader certainly won the battle, even if he lost to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), the only member of either party in the Senate to vote “no.” Most strikingly, Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) both changed their votes. The two were the only senators to vote against resolutions in 2017 and 2019 to add Montenegro and North Macedonia, respectively, to NATO. As for Finland and Sweden, the two libertarian lawmakers took a different stance: Lee voted for the resolution and Paul abstained. “There’s a real and dangerous world out there, and it’s very easy to talk about US isolationism or US containment or US disengagement from the world, and then it’s another matter entirely to vote for it. And I think that’s, you know, what we saw with Senator Paul and Senator Lee not voting against Sweden and Finland joining NATO,” Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. Hawley argued on the Senate floor and in an op-ed that the U.S. should not focus on expanding security commitments to Europe because the “biggest foreign adversary” America faces is China. He had supported the addition of North Macedonia to NATO in 2019. Trump has repeatedly criticized McConnell, who blamed the former president for his actions before the attack on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, in a speech shortly after the president’s impeachment trial. McConnell tends to avoid publicly criticizing Trump, but there’s no mistaking the divergent views the two have on various policy issues — even if there are some ways they align. NATO and foreign policy in general was one of the areas of division. Trump has voiced complaints about the 30-member NATO bloc, calling it “obsolete” and repeatedly grumbling that countries don’t contribute enough money to the common cost of defense. At one point during his presidency, he reportedly advocated US withdrawal from NATO. Before Wednesday’s vote, McConnell openly admitted he was worried about the isolationist wing of the party that Trump has fueled. “The one thing that concerned me, particularly at that point, was this sort of growing isolationist feeling in the party, to some extent, given by President Trump,” he told The Associated Press. In remarks on the Senate floor that day, the Republican leader did not hold back in addressing potential opposition to the resolution. “If any senator is looking for a valid excuse to vote no, I wish them the best of luck,” McConnell said. “This is a national security slam dunk that deserves unanimous bipartisan support.” A separate amendment clarifying congressional war powers under NATO’s collective defense clause also failed to garner broad GOP support. Only 10 Republicans, including his sponsor, Paul, voted in favor of the revision, stressing that Article 5 does not override Congress’s constitutional power to declare war. Not all Republicans see the votes as a sign that the GOP is moving away from the MAGA movement’s “America First” mantra. Republican strategist Doug Heye told The Hill that while the NATO vote was “encouraging,” existing cracks in GOP support for Ukraine could deepen as Russia’s invasion drags on. “I still don’t think we know, you know, where the Republican Party is going on foreign policy,” Heye said. “While this vote was overwhelming, there have been other votes, you know, on funding Ukraine or threats to the next vote on funding Ukraine, that suggest there are cracks there,” he added. The Senate in May approved a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine by a vote of 86-11, with all opposition coming from the Republican Party. Hawley, Paul and Lee were all among those who voted “no.” On the House side, 57 Republicans opposed the supplement. Heye said that while the coalition of Republicans who have opposed funding for Ukraine in the past is not large enough to “vote,” the group’s existence and the ability to take a stand against future issues is enough to stop the forecast foreign GOP policy trajectory. He’s not the only Republican with that view. “I don’t think it’s growing, I don’t think it’s shrinking. I think it’s always been there,” James Carafano, vice president for foreign policy and national security at the Heritage Foundation, told The Hill. He argued that Trump’s “America First” philosophy has been confused with the anti-interventionist movement, arguing that Trump’s faith is based on the belief that US foreign policy should be rooted in interests at home. Van Hollen Says China’s Xi Crisis Caused Pelosi’s Taiwan Trip Sen. Rick Scott Says Inflation Reduction Act Is ‘War on Medicare’ “It just shows that it’s there because you had a senator who had a personal commitment to it and wanted to express it,” Carafano said of the isolationist wing of the party. “This is part of the patchwork of the Republican movement. It always will be.” At the same time, the bipartisan vote to add Finland and Sweden to NATO pushed back against this philosophy and was a victory for McConnell. “It reflects the general bipartisan consensus that NATO is a critical part of American foreign policy,” Carafano said.
