An organization of progressive Democrats in Congress said Tuesday it had withdrawn a letter to the White House urging President Joe Biden to engage in direct diplomatic talks with Russia after sparking an uproar among Democrats and questioning the party’s strength for Ukraine.
In a statement, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus, said the caucus took off the letter it sent less than 24 hours earlier. He signed it through 30 members of the party’s liberal flank.
“The letter written several months ago but unfortunately released through staff without verification,” the Washington Democrat wrote in a statement. As chair of the caucus, Jayapal said she took responsibility.
The rare retraction capped a tense 24-hour era for Democrats. Many reacted angrily to the emergence of flags for the president’s strategy in Ukraine, just weeks before a midterm election in which his congressional majorities are threatened.
The tug-of-war has highlighted the fragile nature of Biden’s appointments with the progressive wing of his party, raising sharp questions about his ability to work in combination, not just on investments for Ukraine, which is safe, for now, but on more pressing issues that are the most sensitive priorities of liberals.
The letter called on Biden to combine Ukraine’s unprecedented economy and military with a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire. “
“The choice of international relations is a protracted war, with its catastrophic and unknowable certainties and risks,” the letter says.
Jayapal said the letter was unfair with recent comments by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. , who warned that Republicans would not write a “blank check” for Ukraine if they regained the majority in the House in November.
“The proximity of those statements has given the unfortunate impression that the Democrats, who strongly and unanimously supported and voted for each and every package of military, strategic and economic assistance to the Ukrainian people, are aligned with Republicans seeking to disconnect America. . support” for Ukraine, Jawapal said.
However, Jayapal rejected the contents of the letter or the pressure for Biden to have interaction in diplomacy. Members of the caucus have called for a diplomatic solution since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
The text of the letter had been circulating since at least June, but only a handful of lawmakers had signed it by the time, according to two Democrats familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party deliberations.
Some Democrats who signed the letter months ago no longer supported it.
“I wrote that letter on June 30, but many things have been superseded since then,” Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs of New York said on Twitter. “I point it out today. “
“We will have to continue with Ukraine economically and militarily to give it the influence it wants to end this war,” he said.
Despite the retraction and messy process of the scenes, some Democratic lawmakers said they still support the sentiments of the letter, arguing that it is the prerogative of Congress to debate the factor while continuing to approve billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine.
“I voted for weapons for Ukraine and I will continue to be the source of weapons for Ukraine to oppose Putin’s brutal aggression,” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. , said in an interview Tuesday.
“At the same time, it is my duty that we mitigate the threat of nuclear war, that the confrontation does not escalate and that we move towards a negotiated settlement that is a just peace. This is the framework of the letter. “
John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, said Monday that the White House had won the card and progressives’ “highly regarded concerns” about the confrontation in Ukraine.
“They make explicit in this letter their support for the president’s technique and we also appreciate it,” Kirby said.
The backlash against the progressives who signed the letter, adding some of the most outspoken voices in the caucus like Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, came most noticeably to Jayapal, who is the face of the liberal faction. It was the latest setback for the congresswoman, who worked for most of last year to help Biden and Democrats fulfill some of the party’s key legislative promises, at the expense of some of the more liberal priorities of their caucus.
Notably, last fall, Jayapal helped bring the bipartisan infrastructure package to the finish line after partisan divisions threatened its passage through the House. The recent mishap also casts doubt on his whispered ambitions to join the Democratic leadership.
Since the war began, Congress has approved tens of billions in emergency humanitarian and security aid for Ukraine, while Biden’s leadership has sent billions in weapons and apparatus from the military’s stockpiles.
Last month, lawmakers approved about $12. 3 billed in Ukraine-related aid as part of a bill that budgeted the government through Dec. 16. .
This is in addition to the more than $50 billion in two bills.
The finances for Ukraine gained strong bipartisanship in the Senate and House after the Russian invasion, but conservative opposition was present from the beginning. Republicans were the only votes against a $40 billion aid package in the spring.
McCarthy’s recent comments more clearly reflected the Republican Party’s growing skepticism about the monetary burden on Kyiv.
Privately, Republican lawmakers helping Ukraine say there may be an opportunity to spend some other tranche of aid on a year-end spending program, before Republicans take control in the next Congress.