Republicans are backing an aggressive policy toward Ukraine, breaking with Trump

Republican lawmakers have spent the last half decade following Donald Trump's lead, even as he moved the party away from long-held party philosophy. But when it comes to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, GOP officials are no longer taking their cues from the former president.

Condemnation of Vladimir Putin is a rare unifying force on Capitol Hill. Few Republicans are echoing Trump's description of the Russian president as savvy or smart. Former Vice President Mike Pence said there was no room in the party for "apologists for Putin." Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina even went as far to say that Putin should be assassinated. 

And after the years standing by as their party leader questioned the value of NATO and traditional global security alliances, threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine in exchange for a political favor, and publicly took Putin's word over that of his intelligence agencies, Republicans are now arguing for every possible resource short of U.S. ground troops to help stop the war in Europe.