- 18 Republican lawmakers opposed Finland and Sweden joining NATO in a Monday vote.
- The vote passed easily, but 'nay' voters included several far-right GOP members.
- The House vote was symbolic; the US portion of the approval process takes place in the Senate.
Eighteen Republican lawmakers voted against the US allowing Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
Among the dissenters in the Monday vote were some of the party's farthest-right members, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA), Matt Gaetz (FL) and Lauren Boebert (CO).
The vote was a symbolic one to express support from the House for the applications — the formal process by which the US can ratify new NATO members takes place in the Senate.
The House bill passed easily with 394 votes, leaving the 18 Republicans in a small minority even among their own party.
Here is the full list:
- Andy Biggs (AZ)
- Dan Bishop (NC)
- Lauren Boebert (CO)
- Madison Cawthorn (NC)
- Ben Cline (VA)
- Michael Cloud (TX)
- Warren Davidson (OH)
- Matt Gaetz (FL)
- Bob Good (OH)
- Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)
- H. Morgan Griffith (VA)
- Thomas Massie (KY)
- Tom McClintock (CA)
- Mary E. Miller (IL)
- Ralph Norman (SC)
- Matthew M. Rosendale Sr. (MT)
- Chip Roy (TX)
- Jefferson Van Drew (NJ)
Nineteen US lawmakers didn't vote —17 Republicans and two Democrats.
Finland and Sweden applied in mid-May, turning away from decades of neutrality in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Both countries have an uneasy proximity to Russia via the Baltic Sea.
Each of the 30 NATO member states must approve any further members joining. The US portion of that is driven the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has yet to decide formally but had been urged strongly by the White House to give quick approval.
Finland has a land border with Russia and repelled a brutal invasion known as the Winter War in the 1940s.
NATO formally invited the countries to join at the end of June, saying it would fast-track the process. Once a country is in NATO, all other members of the alliance are obliged to go to war if it is invaded.
The move has proved infuriating to President Vladimir Putin, who said that opposing NATO expansion was one reason for invading Ukraine in the first place.
(Ukraine was also seeking NATO membership, but did not have access to the faster process given to Sweden and Finland.)
The 18 no votes are another sign of the ongoing, Trump-led pro-Russia shift in the right of the party.
Gaetz, Greene and Boebert are among those GOP members who repeatedly voted against US military and humanitarian support to Ukraine.
They also are among the 63 Republicans who, in April, voted against a resolution expressing support for NATO and its "founding democratic principles."
Greene, Gaetz and Kentucky's Thomas Massie were the only three representatives to oppose moves in April to restrict trade with Russia.
Editor's note: Shortly after publication this story was updated to clarify that the House vote was symbolic and not part of the formal ratification process. A reference to lawmakers voting to "block" Sweden and Finland from joining NATO was amended to instead say they voted "against" the process.