hold hostage

“The reality, of course, is that every U.S. president — including the ones most devoted to democracy and human rights — realized that there were some relationships that were just too strategically important to hold hostage to concerns about democratic values.”

Shortly after, he used his veto power to hold hostage a $120 billion European aid package for Ukraine — as he wrangled for the release of E.U. funds for Hungary that have been frozen over rule-of-law concerns.

Republicans' willingness to hold hostage America's full faith and credit in 2023 is based on their alleged concern about the deficit — but only when a Democrat holds the presidency, a reflex that goes back to Taft.

If Republicans continue to hold hostage the nation’s full faith and credit, the parties will have to spend months figuring out which subpar off-ramp to take.

That has not stopped Republicans like Ms. Greene, who successfully pressured Mr. McCarthy to hold hostage last year’s defense bill until Democrats accepted a demand — strenuously opposed by the White House and the Pentagon — that it end the coronavirus vaccine mandate for members of the military.