Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) plans to introduce a bill in the House next week that would provide $17.6 billion in emergency funding to Israel.
Senate and White House negotiators will release a legislative document this weekend that includes border security compromises, along with President Biden’s request for $106 billion in additional funding for Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian causes and other issues. The timing is notable, given what is expected.
In a letter sent to his Republican colleagues on Saturday, Johnson criticized the House Republican majority for being excluded from talks and argued that it was not acting quickly enough to support Israel in its war against Hamas.
“The Senate appears poised to finally release the text of a supplemental package after months of closed-door negotiations, but by keeping the House out of negotiations, Senate leadership has been unable to quickly consider any legislation. We are aware that we have eliminated the…” Mr Johnson warned.
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Speaker Mike Johnson is introducing a standalone Israel funding bill on the House floor. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)
“Given the Senate’s failure to introduce adequate legislation in a timely manner and the dangerous situation Israel currently faces, the House will continue to take control. We will take up the additional package and pass it.”
One of Mr. Johnson’s first House votes as speaker was for a standalone Israel funding bill of about $14 billion, the amount Mr. Biden had requested for additional aid. But the bill offsets the funding by deducting money from funds earmarked for the Internal Revenue Service, a move praised by hard-line Republicans.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York refused to take up the bill, accusing Mr. Johnson of lacing aid with Israel with a “poison pill.”
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is scheduled to vote on the chamber’s border bill and additional funding bill next week. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“During debate in the House of Commons and in numerous statements since, Democrats have made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was its offset,” Johnson wrote on Saturday. “The Senate will no longer have any excuses, no matter how wrong, for quickly passing this critical aid to our allies.”
He said the legal text would be announced Saturday afternoon by Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense appropriations subcommittee.
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A growing number of Republicans are wary of the issue, with Republicans demanding tough changes to border and immigration policies in exchange for funding for Ukraine. Biden’s request for additional funding includes about $60 billion to help Kyiv fight Russian aggression.
But Mr Johnson and dozens of other members of his council have indicated they are likely to oppose the compromise. Most say they won’t accept anything less than HR 2, the House Republican border bill that Democrats call a failure.
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Johnson and others have called on Biden to use executive authority to close the border, but the White House says legislative fixes are needed and House Republicans are using the border closure as a campaign issue. He blames it.
Schumer said earlier this week that he aims to hold a vote on the Senate package by Wednesday.
