At a congressional hearing yesterday regarding the Department of Defense budget, Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed a reduction in military assistance to Ukraine. Hegseth said: “This administration takes a very different view of that conflict. We believe that a negotiated peaceful settlement is in the best interest of both parties and our nation’s interests, especially with all the competing interests around the globe.”
Note: The Pentagon has not yet released its FY 2026 budget, so details about the extent of the cuts to Ukraine support have not yet been disclosed.
Not all House Republicans are in agreement about the proposed reduction. Representative Don Bacon (R-NE), a staunch anti-Putin lawmaker, responded to the news on X: “I think foolish.”
I think foolish. https://t.co/xYZiyhzCW4
— Rep. Don Bacon
(@RepDonBacon) June 10, 2025
Bacon replied to opposing comments including “Not another dime, not our war” by writing: “That’s [what] the isolationists said in the 1930s about Germany. We cannot stick our heads in the ground like ostriches.”
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) also made the case that the U.S. should not turn its back on Ukraine. She said at the hearing (as seen below), “This has implications way beyond the boundaries of Ukraine, Russia’s got 11 time zones. This is the most important test of liberty for our NATO alliance in my lifetime and we better help win.”
Ukraine has been at war for more than a decade. What they’ve done with drones is astounding, and it’s going to change warfare. One of my questions for @SecDef Hegseth is what he’s doing to establish relations with @Ukraine and not turn our back on them as an Administration — we… pic.twitter.com/cxYiwISBKZ
— Rep. Marcy Kaptur (@RepMarcyKaptur) June 10, 2025
Some self-proclaimed conservatives on X responded to Kaptur with encouragement including one who replied: “My representative! @RepMarcyKaptur, I’ve disagreed with you on many issues, but you couldn’t be more right on this issue.”
Hegseth, who said he has never visited Ukraine, said: “We are learning every day from Ukraine” and that President Trump is “committed to peace, he’s committed to stopping the killing.”
Notably, following the heated Oval Office confrontation between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in March, Bacon wrote a New York Times op-ed in which he warned against capitulation to Putin — against “rewards” for his “ruthless aggression” — and challenged the President and his fellow Republicans.
Bacon wrote: “I welcome President Trump’s efforts to fulfill his promise to end this war. However, the United States must also firmly oppose any approach that rewards Mr. Putin for his ruthless aggression. In recent weeks, too many of my fellow Republicans — including Mr. Trump — have treated Russia with velvet gloves, shying away from calling out Mr. Putin’s flatly illegal war and even blaming Ukraine for starting it.”