House torpedoes stand-alone Israel aid bill

The House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected a bill providing $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, sinking Congress’s latest effort to help the beleaguered Middle East ally and casting doubt on the fate of future foreign aid. .

The vote was 250-180, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill, and critics from both parties worked together to block it.

The surprising vote marked a defeat for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). He opposed Democratic efforts to combine new Israel funding with other security provisions, such as aid to Ukraine, and sought to pressure Democrats to swallow the Israel portion as a stand-alone bill.

Instead, Democrats overwhelmingly voted against the bill, with senators still fighting for a broader foreign aid package and threatening to veto the bill if it reaches their desks. He stood by President Biden’s pledge.

Johnson’s plans were also undermined by conservatives in his own Republican conference. Conservative opponents cast a “no” vote on the bill, urging the speaker to put the bill on a fast track, setting the threshold for passage at a two-thirds majority. The final passage confirms that we will not reach that goal. Conservatives have protested Johnson’s decision not to offset funding for Israel with changes elsewhere in the budget, meaning the aid would increase the federal deficit.

On this policy, Democrats broadly support moves to provide new military aid to Israel. But the Republicans’ stand-alone Israel bill includes other provisions Republicans like, including humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, aid to Taiwan, security funding for the U.S.-Mexico border, and new military funding for Ukraine. Not included.

Of these provisions, the Israel portion probably has the most bipartisan support. And heading into Tuesday’s vote, Democrats were wary of isolating common provisions that could help expedite passage of a broader national security package in the future.

“I don’t think anyone can accuse him of being anti-Israel,” Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Missouri) said of Biden. “But he knows that if he passes this, everything else will fall through.”

Some House Republicans expressed similar concerns. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Johnson’s decision to cut foreign aid provisions out of fear that aid to Ukraine would ultimately be shelved. He said he was “very concerned” about the strategy.

However, Prime Minister Boris Johnson is already aiming to approve aid to Israel on his own. Ahead of Tuesday’s vote, the speaker told reporters that his “Plan B” is to bring the bill to the floor next week in the normal order, which would first require approval of procedural rules, but the reality is that He said he could run into resistance from the same conservatives. He helped destroy his first effort.

The bill, announced by Prime Minister Johnson on Saturday, would send $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel, including $4 billion to replenish the Iron Dome and David Sling systems and support for U.S. military operations. and $200 million to protect U.S. citizens in the region. .

Israeli officials said the package was issued in response to the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas militants that killed about 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. Wednesday marks four months since the assault.

Supporters of the bill, including many of Israel’s most ardent Democratic supporters, say it is important for Congress to send a global message that the United States will not abandon its allies, especially after the Oct. 7 attacks. Ta.

“If a bill that says nothing but Israel fails, what does that say to the rest of the world?” said Brad, a veteran Jewish lawmaker who voted in favor of the proposal. asked Congressman Sherman (D-Calif.).

But most Democrats saw Tuesday’s vote as a Republican stunt whose sole purpose was to corner Democrats. The top three House Democrats said in a letter to colleagues Tuesday morning that the stand-alone Israel bill was “not submitted in good faith.”

“This is an attack by MAGA extremists seeking to undermine the possibility of a comprehensive bipartisan funding package to address U.S. national security challenges in the Middle East, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region, and around the world. A blatantly obvious and cynical attempt,” they wrote.

The “clean” funding bill marked a change of direction for Johnson and the House Republican leadership.

Roughly three months after approving a $14.3 billion aid package for Tel Aviv that included House Republicans and a handful of Democrats, the speaker announced a standalone Israel bill that would also cut IRS funding by the same amount. It was included. The provision drew cheers from conservatives and howls from liberals.

Republicans argued that the offset would help control the ballooning deficit, even though the Congressional Budget Office determined that the IRS cuts would actually increase the federal deficit by billions of dollars. Democrats, on the other hand, criticized the inclusion in IRS cuts, noting that emergency funding bills typically do not require offsets. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York refused to consider the bill.

But Johnson’s removal of the IRS offset provision did nothing to win support from Democrats. And the move infuriated conservatives, who were quick to jump on Mr. Johnson’s strategy this week.House Freedom Caucus Board of Directors in a statement He said it was “deeply disappointing” that Prime Minister Boris Johnson had “succumbed to pressure to deliver an even larger, but currently unpaid, aid package for Israel”.

But Johnson defended his reversal in a press conference on Tuesday, pointing to the Senate’s inaction and the ongoing wars in the Middle East.

“We now understand that in the months since we first went through it, this situation has become even more dangerous. “In the region, it’s a very serious issue. We need to stand with Israel now and we can’t wait any longer,” Johnson said. “That’s why desperate times call for desperate measures, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.”

The Israel-only bill was also seen by many as a rival to the Senate’s national security supplement bill. The bill includes $14.1 billion in security aid to Tel Aviv, as well as aid to Ukraine and increased border security, and is the result of months of high-stakes negotiations. .

Johnson’s House Republicans quickly denounced the deal, taking aim at border policies they deemed too lax and raising concerns that passing a bipartisan deal would mean Biden won Congress in an election year. expressed. The protests were fueled by former President Trump, who remains the national standard-bearer for the Republican Party and opposes any border deal before the election.

After negotiators released a supplement over the weekend claiming the bill was “even worse than we expected” and declaring it “dead on arrival” in the House of Commons, the speaker called for opposition. I strengthened my stance.

But Johnson said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he would not pursue a stand-alone Israel bill as a way to block the bipartisan Senate supplemental bill, days after the bill was announced. was rejected.

“We’ve been waiting for their action. We can’t wait any longer,” Johnson said. “The House is ready to lead.”