House Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday spoke to President Biden and Chuck Schumer over blocking U.S. military aid to Israel, with the House set to vote on a bill that would force bomb shipments to the Jewish state amid its war with Hamas. He criticized Senate Majority Leader (D-D.). .
Johnson also granted executive privilege to prevent a House committee from obtaining a subpoenaed audio recording of a meeting with former special counsel Robert Hur on the steps of the Capitol over classified documents in the president’s possession. He drew similarities to Biden’s decision earlier Thursday.
“Instead of protecting our closest allies in a war, President Biden is using his authority to protect himself politically,” Johnson said. ”Just as President Biden is using executive privilege to defy the will of Congress, he is brazenly doing so by withholding Congress-mandated aid. Just last month, senator chuck chumer It was proclaimed from the Senate floor – these were his words: “The House must rush to Israel’s aid…as soon as humanely possible.”
“Today, Sen. Schumer has reversed course. He has reversed course. President Biden and Sen. Schumer are still standing in the way of Israel getting the resources it desperately needs to defend itself. The House has tried many times to provide much-needed aid to Israel, and each time Biden and Schumer have opposed it.
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Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) speaks on the steps of the Capitol Thursday, May 16, 2024, before the House votes on a bill that would ensure that U.S. security assistance is promptly provided to Israel. do. (Alison Robert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The press conference comes as Republicans seek to highlight Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war, with the House reprimanding Biden for suspending bomb shipments to Israel on Thursday and introducing legislation to force arms transfers. The decision was taken before the scheduled vote.
Just weeks after Congress passed a supplemental national security bill that included $26 billion for Israel, Prime Minister Johnson said the Biden administration was “withholding weapons shipments to Israel against the will of Congress.” “This is a disastrous decision with global implications,” he said. It is being treated as “a political calculation.”
He said the House “will vote on a bill that would force Israel to hand over defense weapons as it fights to protect itself from radical terrorists and defend its very existence as a nation.”
“But Joe Biden has threatened to veto the bill, and Chuck Schumer has indicated he will refuse to move it to the Senate floor,” Johnson said. “On October 7th, the extremist terrorist organization Hamas, a proxy for Iran, set Israel on fire, and the proverbial fire continues to burn. And Biden and Schumer have challenged Israel to actually put out the fire. We’re telling them that only some of them are allowed.” This won’t get us anywhere. Israel needs to get the job done, and the United States needs to help put out the flames of terror sparked by Hamas. ”
House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) calls on the Senate to take up the Israel Security Assistance Act during a press conference on the east front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., May 16, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Biden administration this month sought to thwart an Israeli attack on Rafah, a densely populated city in southern Gaza, by sending a shipment of 3,500 bombs, some as large as 2,000 pounds, capable of killing hundreds of people in the densely populated area. I put it on hold. Republicans were furious, accusing Biden of abandoning America’s closest ally in the Middle East.
The bill condemns Biden’s initiation of a moratorium on bomb shipments and would withhold funding to the State Department, Defense Department, and National Security Council until the shipments are completed. Schumer said if the bill passes the House, it won’t be up for debate in the Democratic-controlled Senate, telling reporters earlier this week that “the bill won’t go anywhere.”
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Even if the bill passes Congress, the White House said Biden would veto it.
House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana) claimed that Mr. Biden is “hindering Israel’s ability to defend itself, but Iran is not resisting.”
He noted that Iran has launched more than 300 drones and missiles into Israel, and Hamas is still holding more than 130 hostages, including Americans.
Republican senators Elise Stefanik of New York, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Mike Scalise of Louisiana during a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, May 16, 2024. Speaker of the House Johnson. (Alison Robert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Where does President Biden care about the lives of American citizens who are currently being held hostage in underground tunnels in Gaza?” Scalise said. “President Biden supports Hamas’ position on Israel. This is terrible. If this bill passes the House today with a bipartisan vote, the public pressure will be enormous, and Chuck Schumer… We’re going to have to take this bill up, and if we have this bill, like other bills that President Biden has threatened to veto, the bill that the people ultimately bought into and finally signed into law is the Senate. is passing through.”
The debate over the bill, rushed on the House floor by Republican leaders this week, showed that Washington’s prospects for the Israel-Hamas war are badly broken.
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The White House and Democratic leadership range from moderates unhappy that the president is allowing relations between the United States and Israel to see the light of day to progressives furious that the president is still sending weapons. He is scrambling to rally support from the House of Representatives.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
