It was a fairly pro forma bill: a two page piece of legislation directing the Secretary of State to investigate ways to counter Russian activities that Russia is using to gain influence in Africa. H.R 7311–the Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act–doesn’t allocate any money. It doesn’t commit US military forces into action. Hell, it doesn’t even rebuke anyone.
So why did nine Republicans–Biggs, Boebert, Cammack, Gohmert, Gosar, MT Greene, Lesko, Massey and Roy–vote against it? Like scores of other bills that pass Congress, this one instructs a Cabinet office to provide a report on addressing a specific problem–Legislative trickery to get the Executive branch to address an issue it thinks is important. Those nine have voted in favor of those bills in the past. But what about Russia makes them balk now?