WASHINGTON — Put this in your “politics make strange bedfellows” file when it comes to a bipartisan coalition of the far ends of the political spectrum coming together for a Wednesday House vote.
The farthest left members of the House, including from Illinois, Democrats Jan Schakowsky, Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, Robin Kelly and Delia Ramirez, backed a measure supported by the farthest right GOP lawmakers: Matt Gaetz from Florida; Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia; Lauren Boebert of Colorado; and Mary Miller from Illinois.
How can this be?
The ideological left and right landed in the same place on Wednesday — for different reasons.
This came in a vote for a resolution sponsored by Gaetz to direct the president to remove U.S. troops from Syria. About 900 military personnel are at issue.
The measure failed, with 321 no votes to 103 yes votes. Those yes votes consisted of an unusual bipartisan temporary alliance of 47 Republicans and 56 Democrats.
The Illinois Democrats were joined by, among others in their party, the lawmakers known as “the Squad:” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez from New York; Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts; Ilhan Omar from Minnesota; and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Many of the 47 Republicans, including Miller, are part of the Freedom Caucus.
I asked Miller’s office for an explanation, and she told the Sun-Times in a statement, “The Biden Administration should put America First by having the U.S. military defend America’s borders instead of foreign borders, especially while we face an invasion of five million foreign nationals across our southern border led by drug cartels, MS-13 gang members, and terrorists.
“Fentanyl is pouring into our country and has become the number one killer of young Americans because Joe Biden opened our southern border. I am introducing a House Resolution to put America First and designate the cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. Our first priority must be the safety and security of the American people,” Miller said.
Ramirez, a freshman, who is on the Veterans Affairs Committee, told the Sun-Times, “I voted yes on the resolution directing the President to remove the U.S. Armed Forces from Syria because I strongly affirm full restoration of Congressional war powers.
“Rather than reading about military actions taken abroad in the news after the fact, U.S. military presence should instead come after a public debate and a recorded vote. Military action abroad should be authorized by Congress. It’s essential for accountability. Accountability for the Pentagon and accountability to our constituents,” she said.
Schakowsky communications director Alex Moore noted that the Gaetz measure — to remove U.S. Armed Forces from Syria within 180 days — had the support of former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford.
The Congressional Progressive Caucus also urged a yes vote on the Gaetz resolution.
To help me sort this out and put this marriage of convenience in context, I talked to David Corn, the author of “American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy.” Corn is the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones and an MSNBC analyst.
“There has been a long tradition, on the right, of people who don’t want U.S. intervention overseas because they don’t believe any American money or American lives should be devoted to doing anything overseas, including helping other people,” Corn said.
“And this goes all the way back to at least before World War II, when the far right did not want intervention in World War II before Pearl Harbor.
“Since most of the decades since World War II, the Republican Party has managed to isolate the isolationists” and become the party of national security, backing big military budgets and overseas engagement,” Corn said.
And on the left, Corn said, “there’s always been skepticism about U.S. intervention abroad, based on Vietnam, the CIA overthrowing governments, the Iraq war. It’s that we know that the U.S. government can’t do these things and when it tries, it does things wrong or ends up on the side of tyrants.”
“The left does this more out of skepticism, and the right does it more out of, what would you call it, crass self interest, that there’s no reason why we should help anybody overseas unless it’s going to immediately help us.”
The Trump presidency ushered in the collapse of the Republican mainstream, setting the stage for an isolationist comeback.
The skirmish over Syria could be seen as a preseason warm-up before potential fights over U.S. military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, as Russian’s war against that nation is in its second year.
And that fight is much more on the Republican side.
Illinois notes
*Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., won a waiver from Democratic leaders to rejoin the House Foreign Relations Committee after initially not being allowed to remain on the panel because he has a major assignment on the Ways and Means Committee.
*While Chicagoans elect a new mayor and City Council, a reminder: Washington, D.C., residents do not control their fate. The Senate voted 81-14 to block crime legislation passed by the D.C. City Council. Illinois Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth were among the 14 who objected.
*Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said Thursday after reviewing classified material, ”It is his opinion he was the subject of improper queries” by the FBI collecting information under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
