Page 97 of Dead Fall

The Majority Leader looked at him. “The bulk of the American people wouldn’t agree with you on that one.”

“No,” said Wilson, “but your base would. They don’t want us anywhere near this war.”

“We’ve got a general election coming up,” said the Speaker. “If we want full control in Washington, which we do, we have to thread this needleverycarefully. We can’t play exclusively to the base, because we’ll turn off key swing voters.”

“But,” the Majority Leader stated, “if we go too moderate, we risk the base staying home because they’re pissed off.”

“I get it,” said Wilson. “And the Paulsens understand it, too. With control of the House, the Senate, and the Oval Office, you can do whatever you want. That’s why I said cutting Ukraine loose was big picture. That’s the long-term goal. In the short term, can you at least slow things down? Can you reduce the aid they’re receiving? Tie up the weapons and ammunition flowing to them?”

“There’s already a supplemental appropriation in place. That’s going to keep money flowing for the rest of the fiscal year,” the Speaker replied. “The Department of Defense sends older equipment to Ukraine and is able to use those funds to buy new equipment. As long as the defense industry keeps up, the United States doesn’t have any readiness issues.”

“And if it doesn’t?” asked Wilson. “What happens if defense contractors fall behind—weapons systems going out the front door and nothing coming in to replace them?”

“Then we’ve got a problem.”

Wilson thought for a moment. “It sounds to me like a strategic pause, long enough to audit supply chains and conduct a thorough review of America’s military readiness, might be quite prudent. An investigationof this sort would not only please the base, but would also demonstrate that, under your leadership, you and the party take America’s defense seriously.”

The Speaker took a moment to reflect on what he had just heard. “Every business keeps one eye on the books, right? If the books don’t balance, that can spell disaster. Which in this case could impact the performance of our own armed forces.”

“I’m not sayingdon’tarm the Ukrainians,” Wilson clarified. “I’m just saying that, in all good faith, they shouldn’t get so much as an additional bullet until we know that our service members, if called to battle, would have every single thing that they need.”

“Hard to argue with that kind of logic.”

“Agreed,” replied the Majority Leader. “And anyone who does argue with it is not only being unreasonable, but they’re also placing the safety and effectiveness of Ukrainian troops over America’s sons and daughters.”

The ex-Senator was very pleased with how the Speaker and Majority Leader were positioning themselves on this.

“Attacking the other side for prioritizing the national security of another nation over our own is a good fight,” said the Speaker. “Let us kick it around internally a little bit. I’d like to get a poll in the field first thing on Monday morning. Let’s see how people respond.”

“Thank you,” Wilson responded.

“You’re welcome. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss? If not, I think we’re going to go join our wives before they get in any trouble.”

“Just one additional item. I want to suggest a piece of legislation.”

“What’s that?” the Majority Leader asked as he drained the last of his cognac.

“The Paulsens would like to see a bill introduced that prohibits Americans, particularly veterans, from going over and fighting for the Ukrainians.”

“Not sure how much support you’d be able to get for that in the House. We might not be able to whip enough votes for it to pass.”

“It doesn’t need to pass,” said Wilson, “not right away at least.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“What matters most is that the bill is introduced. You don’t need tobring it up for a vote immediately. You can drag it out in committee. What’s important is that the bill is a topic of conversation. If Americans know that their involvement with Ukraine might be criminalized at any moment, they’ll think twice about going over. It’ll have a chilling effect.”

The Majority Leader nodded. “I see.”

Finishing his cognac, the Speaker said, “Just thinking out loud, but we could assign something like that to one of our edgier freshmen. A rep from a rabid district where this kind of red meat would play well.”

“But not a rep who’s a kook,” Wilson stated. “I don’t care what their district looks like. Whoever is quarterbacking this should be good on TV, not too much of a bomb thrower. It helps if this issue, just like the military readiness review, becomes a mainstream topic of conversation.”

“Got it,” said the Speaker, setting down his snifter. “We’ll get working on this right away. In the meantime, thank you for dinner and thank you for letting us bring our brides.”

The ex-Senator stood and shook hands with his former colleagues. “You’re welcome. And thankyou. Mr. and Mrs. Paulsen are going to be pleased to get my report.”

As he watched them leave the private dining room, he couldn’t believe how easy that had been. It almost made him sorry he was getting out of the lobbying business.Almost.

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