The House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a standalone bill that would have provided $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel. The bill, which the White House has denounced as a “political ploy,” would have been vetoed if it went to President Biden’s desk.
The bill, signed by a bipartisan group of senators and the White House, would provide $60 billion in aid to the Jewish state and military aid to Ukraine, $10 billion in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, and new funding for the Palestinian Territories. It was introduced as a wide range of measures linking $20 billion were being negotiated. U.S. border security languishes in the Senate.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) brought the Clean Israel funding bill to the floor under a process that requires a two-thirds majority of members to pass.
The bill failed on a 250-180 vote, with 14 Republicans joining 166 Democrats in opposing the bill.
House Democratic leadership has expressed opposition to the proposal. “Dear Colleague” Letter Before Tuesday’s vote, he criticized the standalone bill as a “blatant and cynical attempt by MAGA extremists to undermine the possibility of a comprehensive, bipartisan funding package.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and Representative Katherine Clark (D-N.Y.) said, “We are committed to supporting all serious concerns related to the special relationship between the United States and Israel, our closest allies in the Middle East. “We stand ready to support this bipartisan effort.” (Massachusetts) and Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.). “Unfortunately, the standalone bill that House Republicans introduced at the eleventh hour over the weekend without any notice or consultation was not proposed in good faith.”
“Here at home, it’s time for House Republicans to stop the political stunts and come together to support a comprehensive approach to national security priorities,” he added.
Their opposition came after the White House Office of Management and Budget released an administrative policy statement on Monday rejecting Mr. Johnson’s efforts.
“Instead of honestly addressing our most pressing national security challenges, this bill is yet another cynical political maneuver,” the statement said.
“The government has done nothing to secure our borders, it has done nothing to protect Ukrainians from Putin’s aggression, it has done nothing to protect American synagogues, mosques, vulnerable We strongly oppose this tactic of failing to support the security of places of worship and denying humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the vast majority of whom are women and children.”
The conservative House Freedom Caucus also opposes the bill on the grounds that it does not offset the spending cuts included in the bill approved by the House last November, and that the bill is part of the war against Hamas. It would provide $14.3 billion to Israel for the United States and reduce funding for the Internal Revenue Service that had been appropriated in President Biden’s budget. -It’s called the Inflation Control Act. The bill failed to pass the Senate.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Speaker has bowed to pressure to implement an even larger, yet unfunded aid package for Israel and has reversed his stance by seeking offsets for new additional spending,” the House Freedom Caucus said in a statement. statement Sunday.
“Conservatives will either borrow money to support their special friend Israel, or they will spend additional unpaid spending that will exacerbate our nation’s unsustainable fiscal crisis and further jeopardize our ability to respond to future crises.” People should not be forced to choose between keeping their promise to stop.”
Forty-six Democrats and 204 Republicans voted in favor of the failed bill, which needed at least 280 votes to pass.
A bipartisan Senate bill addressing aid and border security for Israel and Ukraine looks certain to meet the same fate as Johnson’s standalone bill.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that “to me and most members of Congress, it looks as if we don’t have a real chance of passing legislation here.”
Former President Donald Trump derided the bill as a “great gift to Democrats,” and House Republican leaders said in the House that the bill was “dead on arrival.”
