Bipartisan lawmakers introduce ‘Georgia Nightmare Non-Recognition Act’ as warning to Putin’s government

FIRST ON FOX – High-ranking Republican and Democratic lawmakers will present today a bill banning the recognition of the Georgian Dream government of the Black Sea nation, which has been overwhelmed by mass anti-government demonstrations for more than 40 days.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-C., chairman of the Helsinki Commission, and Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., will introduce the “Georgia Nightmare Non-Recognition Act” on Wednesday.

Fox News Digital has exclusively obtained a bill that would prohibit the recognition or normalization of relations “with any government of Georgia led by Bidzina Ivanishvili or any proxies for the ongoing crimes of the Ivanishvili regime against the Georgian people,” the bill reads.

According to the bill, “no federal official or employee shall take any action, and no federal funds shall be made available, to recognize or otherwise imply, in any way, the recognition by the United States of Bidzina Ivanishvili or any which governments in Georgia.”

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Rep. Cohen, who came up with the bill’s name, told Fox News Digital that the Georgia Dream has become the Georgia Nightmare.

“The Georgian Dream party of sanctioned oligarch Ivanishvili has now become Putin’s tool. They rigged the October elections and illegally elected a pliable president. The United States cannot and will not recognize this illegitimate government. Georgia’s nightmare Non-Recognition Act will ensure that the United States does not acquiesce to free and fair elections, Ivanishvili’s regime must remain completely isolated from all democratic governments.”

While the Georgian Dream government did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment, the party’s political council released a statement Wednesday saying the recently imposed sanctions were “anti-Georgian steps” orchestrated by the “Global War Party” and “deep state” networks. calling Rep. Wilson “one of the most serious manifestations of the deep state” and a “degraded politician.”

In its nature and goals, the “Georgia Nightmare Non-Recognition Act” resembles the lawmaker-led “Anti-Assad Regime Normalization Act” of 2023, which passed last February. The legislation was passed in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2025 and was signed into law by President Biden last month.

The “Law Against Normalization of the Assad Regime” also prohibited the recognition or normalization of relations with the government of Bashar al-Assad. “It is the policy of the United States not to recognize or normalize relations with any government of Syria that it leads Bashar al-Assad because of the Assad regime’s continuing crimes against the Syrian people,” a passage of the NDAA reads.

Although it is up to the president to recognize a particular government or leader, lawmakers refer to existing precedents. United States Congress has a long tradition of not recognizing illegitimate regimes. Congress has never recognized Russia’s occupation of the Ukrainian Crimea or the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The United States also never recognized the Soviet annexation of the Baltic states in 1940 and maintained a policy of non-recognition, viewing the Baltic states as illegally occupied territories until they regained independence in 1991.

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“Similarly, my Anti-Normalization of the Assad Regime Act ensured that the United States never recognized the murderous Assad regime. Now that regime is gone, too. We will follow the same policy with the Ivanishvili regime. Thanks to the strength of the freedom-loving Georgian people, I am sure that this regime will soon be gone and that Georgia will have free and fair elections,” Rep. Wilson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Luke Coffey, who championed Georgia’s western aspirations, incl membership in NATOfor more than a decade, said the bill is an indication that “American lawmakers and policymakers are becoming increasingly frustrated” with the Georgian Dream and their actions in Georgia.

“It’s also a reminder of how important the U.S. Congress is in the development of American foreign policy, and those Georgia Dream officials should pay close attention to what Congress is doing, especially those members of Congress who are close to Donald Trump. After January 20, these members of Congress will have an even greater influence on the creation of US foreign policy,” Coffey said.

According to the bill, the United States will recognize Salome Zourabichvili as “the current president of Georgia prior to the October 26, 2024, sham election.” and as the only legitimate leader in Georgia.

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This policy can be declared invalid “in the event of the restoration of the Georgian constitution as demonstrated by the holding of free and fair elections,” the bill said.

Despite the current low point in US-Georgia relations, Coffey believes that with the best policies in place, relations can get back on track. “In the meantime, the United States should pursue policies that support legitimate political opposition against an increasingly authoritarian, Belarus-like government in Tbilisi,” Coffey said.