Almost two years ago, Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a joint session of Congress in a jam-packed House chamber.
Hundreds of Republican and Democratic lawmakers hung around late on the Wednesday before Christmas to hear from the embattled Ukrainian president. His speech — which Nancy Pelosi deemed Churchill-esqe — earned him a standing ovation from both sides of the aisle. He accepted an American flag from Pelosi, and in return, he gifted the then-speaker a Ukrainian flag signed by frontline soldiers. It was a widely celebrated, front-page photo op 10 months after Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Capitol Hill this Thursday looked and felt nothing like that.
Only about 20 senators and a dozen or so representatives met with Zelenskyy on Thursday, as he visited the United States to court support — and money — for the continued fight against Russia.
Scheduling was partly to blame for the poor attendance. Both chambers approved a short-term government funding bill on Wednesday, and with the official business of Congress complete until mid-November, most lawmakers skipped town to campaign, prepare for a hurricane or do whatever it is lawmakers do once Congress adjourns.
But as just about everyone in Washington knows, Zelenskyy’s problem with Congress isn’t just logistical; it’s ideological.
Ukraine has been at war for two-and-a-half years, and some lawmakers have grown weary of the incremental nature of the conflict — as well as the repeated requests for money that come with it. A growing faction of so-called “America First” Republicans oppose U.S. financial support for Ukraine outright.
Now, even for some of the GOP’s biggest Ukraine hawks, the assumption that Congress will keep funding Ukraine’s war effort is an increasingly dubious one.
“I was a strong proponent of that overall national security bill,” Sen. Dan Sullivan told NOTUS of April funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. “But the idea that these are going to be able to continue in perpetuity is not politically realistic.”
“I don’t think that’s who’s in the White House,” he added. “I just think that’s regardless of who wins.”
After Zelenskyy’s meeting in the upper chamber, senators said he did not request congressionally approved funding as he has on past visits. His focus on this latest U.S. swing has been to convince the Biden administration to permit U.S.-guided long-range missiles that would enable Ukraine to reach targets deeper into Russia.
Several senators leaving their meeting with Zelenskyy seemed to recognize that more requests for funding could come during the lame-duck period or next Congress. But for some GOP supporters of Ukraine aid — a shrinking, yet substantial majority of congressional Republicans — rhetorical shows of support for Ukraine at this point are just as important as financial ones.
It’s about demonstrating to Russia that, when the time comes for the U.S. to provide more aid to Ukraine, the U.S. will be there.
“The more we’ve kind of got a continuing resolution posture for funding, and I think if we could start looking longer term, it would be helpful,” Sen. Thom Tillis told reporters ahead of the meeting Wednesday.
“Because it’s that long-term proposition that Putin can’t make it, right?” he continued. “The minute that we make it clear that these are installments until he loses, then he loses sooner.”
But with new GOP leadership on the horizon — in the White House, the Senate and potentially in the House — Tillis’ hope that the U.S. will indefinitely provide Ukraine aid has become more and more politically toxic.
On Monday, Zelenskyy toured an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania — a hotly contested part of a hotly contested state this presidential election — with three top Democrats, including Harris surrogate Gov. Josh Shapiro. An outraged Donald Trump and the GOP have taken massive offense to the visit, particularly after Zelenskyy called JD Vance “too radical” in an interview published Sunday.
Trump, who was supposed to meet with Zelenskyy this week, lashed out, calling him the “greatest salesman on Earth.” Speaker Mike Johnson declined a meeting and demanded Zelenskyy fire the Ukrainian U.S. ambassador for allowing him to partake in a “partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats.” The speaker added that the event was “clearly election interference.”
House Oversight Chair James Comer has launched an official inquiry into the trip.
Still, some GOP lawmakers are convinced Trump will support Ukraine should the former president retake the White House.
“I am a convert supporter of Donald Trump,” Rep. Joe Wilson — perhaps the House GOP’s top Ukraine hawk — told NOTUS. “Years ago, he was not my candidate, but he sure is now. I believe that I would actually compare Trump and Zelenskyy. They’re people of extraordinary intestinal fortitude.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham had his own spin, telling reporters that the Trump “salesman” comment was “probably a compliment of Trump’s.”
“It was President Trump,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart told NOTUS, “who actually started really pushing back against Putin.”
To hear these Republicans tell it, Democrats are actually to blame for any delays in delivering aid to Ukraine. Sen. John Cornyn — a top contender to lead the Senate next term — told reporters after the meeting with Zelenskyy that, if Biden would expedite the delivery of aid, talk of future funding might be moot.
“If we follow through on the promises that Congress has already made and that the administration is slow-walking, there may not be a need for additional resources from the United States,” Cornyn told reporters, characterizing what he heard from Zelenskyy.
The White House and many Democratic lawmakers dispute that characterization. On Thursday morning President Joe Biden announced $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine. Democrats aren’t worried that a Harris administration would hamstring Ukraine aid; they say Trump is the obstacle.
“It ought to scare the American people,” Rep. Dan Kildee told NOTUS, “that what was once an honest-to-goodness political party has turned into a cult of personality that is so obsessed that it might be willing to walk away from an ally in their greatest moment of need.”
Some GOP lawmakers are trying to remain optimistic. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick told NOTUS he’s going to keep charging ahead with what could be an impossible task, even with a Trump White House. But the question for Zelenskyy is how many lawmakers like Fitzpatrick are left.
“We don’t know what government is going to be given to us by the American people, but we will find a way to make it work, no matter what the scenario is,” he told NOTUS.
“Because I’m telling you, I will move heaven and earth to make sure that Ukraine does not lose out,” he said.
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Riley Rogerson is a reporter at NOTUS.
Haley Byrd Wilt, who is a reporter at NOTUS, contributed to this report.