In recent years, domestic politics in the US has left both the Democrats and Republicans with little to agree on. However, both parties have still been able to cooperate on foreign and security policy—one issue being the accession of Finland and Sweden to Nato.
The ratification of the new Nato members has rallied behind it a rare unanimous front, as more than 80 senators from both parties have expressed their support for the new member states, CNN reported in late May.
Support for Nato expansion is bolstered by both the war in Ukraine and both parties' tradition of supporting Nato expansion, according to Eoin McNamara, a PhD researcher at the University of Tartu.
During a visit by US senators to Helsinki earlier this year, US Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the US Senate could ratify Finland and Sweden's Nato bids by August. One of the few senators who has not yet given their position on the Nordic countries' admission is the historically Nato-sceptic Rand Paul—a Republican from Kentucky.
As of Sunday, eight countries have already ratified Finland and Sweden joining the alliance and a remaining 22 still need to approve the new members.