Sen. JD Vance Warns Of ‘Impeachment Time Bomb’ Hidden In Foreign Aid Bill

There are plenty of reasons for Republicans to oppose the bloated foreign aid package that includes tens of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars earmarked for Ukraine.

But for Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), one of the most nefarious aspects of the proposed bill is a passage that he believes could be used to impeach Donald Trump, assuming the former president is elected to serve a second term in the White House.

Since the funding wouldn’t expire until nine months after Inauguration Day, if Trump implements a plan to cut off future Ukraine spending, Democratic lawmakers could use that decision to spark yet another impeachment effort against him.

According to Breitbart:

Earlier Monday, Vance sent a memo to his Republican colleagues highlighting that the bill would fund Ukraine through September 30, 2025, which would be nearly a year into the possible second presidential term for Trump if he is reelected.

Vance wrote in his memo:

The bill includes $1.6 billion for foreign military financing in Ukraine, and $13.7 billion for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. These funds expire on September 30, 2025—nearly a year into the possible second term of President Trump.

He noted that those were the same accounts that then-President Trump was impeached for pausing in December 2019.

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Then-Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his twin brother, then-Army Col. Eugene Vindman — who both worked in the National Security Council at the time — had claimed that Trump froze the aid to get dirt on then-Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.

Vance confirmed on social media that he sent a memo to his fellow Senate Republicans advising them of the “impeachment time bomb.”

I just sent the below memo to every one of my Republican colleagues in Congress.

Buried in the bill’s text is an impeachment time bomb for the next Trump presidency if he tries to stop funding the war in Ukraine.

We must vote against this disastrous bill. pic.twitter.com/uKqet9s0xd

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 12, 2024

The senator followed up with some additional context.

“A standard period of availability” for money that is a 1) hotly contested political issue and 2) was literally already used as a pretext to impeach Trump.

These people don’t even try anymore. https://t.co/9YP5T5R2eL

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 12, 2024

Vance also made his case against the bill in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

“A standard period of availability” for money that is a 1) hotly contested political issue and 2) was literally already used as a pretext to impeach Trump.

These people don’t even try anymore. https://t.co/9YP5T5R2eL

— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 12, 2024

Trump has signaled his opposition to the bill, but enough Republicans sided with Democrats to advance the proposal.

The Senate just voted 67-27 to advance the foreign aid supplemental bill that doesn't include border provisions — bringing it a step closer to passage.

Donald Trump told Republicans to vote against it. More than a dozen Republicans ignored Trump.

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 11, 2024

All of this came after Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) spoke from the Senate floor for hours to filibuster the bill.

In one hour I return to the Senate floor to expose the Ukraine funding bill as the sellout that it is.

I intend to be there for a long time.

We made a promise to the American people: REAL border security before we send one more penny overseas.

I intend to keep that promise.

— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) February 10, 2024

As Deseret News reported:

Lee was arguing against a $95 billion supplementary aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, which a handful of Republicans joined Democrats in negotiating. But more conservative Republicans — Lee of Utah and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky — made great efforts to delay the bill.

“We cannot send billions of dollars to Ukraine while America’s own borders are bleeding. This betrayal is all the more loathsome as it occurs at a time when the eyes of a nation are turned to sport, family and fun,” Lee said at the beginning of his filibuster, which started at 11 a.m. MST Saturday.

Here’s a full clip of his speech: