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To counterbalance the $14.3 billion in Israel aid, the bill would target funding for IRS enforcement and operations support, along with money for other agency efforts including to test a government-run free online tax filing system. Still, he expressed support for continuing to aid Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia, pledging that lawmakers are “not going to abandon them” while acknowledging the “stewardship responsibility” Congress has over the aid heading abroad. For months, Mr. Johnson and right-wing Republicans in the House had refused to entertain aid to Ukraine unless Mr. Biden agreed to stringent measures to curtail immigration on the U.S. border with Mexico. When Senate Democrats agreed this year to legislation that paired the aid with stiffer border enforcement provisions, Mr. Trump denounced it and Republicans rejected it out of hand.
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R-La., announced in a letter sent to the Republican conference Saturday that the House would send $17.6 billion to reinforce Israel’s military defense systems and U.S. personnel and citizens in the region as a result of ongoing conflicts. If approved by the House by midweek, the bill would be the second one sent to the Senate in two months. But unlike the previous iteration, it includes $3.3 billion more for Israel and does not include controversial offsets to the Internal Revenue Service that House Republicans championed and were considered a non-starter by the Democratic Senate. The House of Representatives on Saturday passed a bill that includes more than $14 billion in military aid to Israel and more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid, much of which will go to Gaza. The bill is set to include $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for U.S. A prior bill passed by the House, early in Johnson’s speakership, would have provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, attached to IRS cuts that Democrats said were a poison pill.
Senators unveil border deal and foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel ahead of key vote - KVIA
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Johnson defended his decision Wednesday and said providing Ukraine with lethal aid was "critically important." “There is a very real risk that the Ukrainians could lose on the battlefield by the end of 2024, or at least put [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in a position where he could essentially dictate the terms of a political settlement,” said Burns. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also labeled China, Russia and Iran as an “axis of evil” earlier this week after reversing course on Ukraine aid.
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“As I have said consistently for the past three months, the House will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed,” Johnson said in a letter to colleagues. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts called Johnson's indecisiveness "a threat to global security," adding that Johnson's effort to pacify his detractors is futile. "If Speaker Johnson's version is missing one of these components, it's highly unlikely Democrats would support it," said Rep. Ted Lieu of California, the caucus' vice chair. GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado said "this could be the beginning of the end for the speaker." Johnson said he is "not resigning," calling it "an absurd notion" that someone would bring a motion to vacate "when we are simply here trying to do our jobs."
Russia-Ukraine War
The earlier House bill faced skepticism in the Senate over concerns that it would not hold up to a legal challenge. The House on Wednesday made another push to force through legislation that would require the sale of TikTok by its Chinese owner or ban the app in the United States, accelerating an effort to disrupt the popular social media app. A new measure attempts to force the Senate’s hand on passing legislation to ban TikTok or mandate the app’s sale. Senate Republicans who have opposed additional Ukraine aid threw support behind the House approach.
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“Sending more weapons to the Netanyahu government will make the U.S. even more responsible for atrocities and the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza which is now in a season of famine,” said Representative Jonathan L. Jackson, Democrat of Illinois. Much of the funding for Ukraine is earmarked to replenish U.S. stockpiles after shipping supplies to Kyiv. “I’m going to allow an opportunity for every single member of the House to vote their conscience and their will,” he had said. Outside the Capitol, a jubilant crowd waved Ukrainian flags and chanted, “Thank you U.S.A.” as exiting lawmakers gave them a thumbs-up and waved smaller flags of their own. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Johnson on Tuesday after testifying in the Senate. At the hearing, Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Ukraine needed continued U.S. assistance to win its fight against Russian invaders.
The vote in which the aid package for Israel was passed , had 37 Democrats and 21 Republicans in opposition. The House will vote on final passage Saturday afternoon, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer asked senators to be prepared to stay the weekend to vote on the measure. Washington — The House cleared a procedural hurdle to advance legislation to provide billions of dollars in stalled security funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan on Friday, steering the measures closer toward passage this weekend. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Congress has appropriated $113 billion in funding to support Ukraine’s war effort. $75 billion was directly allocated to the country for humanitarian, financial and military support, and another $38 billion in security assistance-related funding was spent largely in the United States, according to the Institute for Study of War, a Washington-based research group. Senators Eric Schmitt and Ron Johnson also spoke in favor of passing an assistance package to Israel separately from military aid to Ukraine.
Johnson said that Senate leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation. A roughly $14 billion aid package for Israel, released by House Republicans, is at odds with the White House and the Senate, where leaders want money for Israel linked to money for Ukraine. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday evening he had not read the legislation yet, because he had been occupied with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' impeachment trial.
Senate Negotiators Unveil Bipartisan Border Bill - HuffPost
Senate Negotiators Unveil Bipartisan Border Bill.
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The Israel measure also includes more than $9.1 billion to address Palestinian humanitarian needs, which Democrats said was necessary for their support. A group of bipartisan Senate negotiators has been working for months to find a compromise on border security after House Republicans telegraphed that they would not support Biden’s ask for a supplemental package that helps foreign allies unless it included significant changes to the border. Negotiations often ebbed and flowed with Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., working to overcome partisan hurdles in how to address changes to the U.S. asylum and parole system. The components of the bill are nearly identical to one that passed the Senate with bipartisan support in February. It includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
The package contains a fourth bill aimed at implementing sanctions and policies to counter China, Iran and Russia. It also includes a version of a House bill that passed overwhelmingly in March that forces TikTok to divest from its Chinese parent company or face a ban in the U.S. The full House voted to approve the rule for debate on the legislative package with broad bipartisan support, 316 to 94. Democrats ultimately delivered more votes than Republicans — 165 Democrats voted in favor, while 39 opposed it, and 151 Republicans voted in favor, and 55 opposed.
But the president's request faces an uphill battle in Congress, where many Republicans have grown increasingly hostile to approving further aid for Ukraine and some are now looking at the appeal to send funds to Israel with equal discontent. Another $7.7 billion would be allotted to replenish U.S. defense stocks sent to Israel and military operations in the region in response to the Oct. 7 attack. Another $200 million would be used to protect U.S. personnel and aid in evacuations of U.S. citizens if necessary.
The conservative Republican hardliners on the committee — Reps. Tom Massie of Kentucky, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Chip Roy of Texas — all voted against the rule, because border security was not being paired with foreign aid. However, the speaker said he would put an "aggressive" border bill to a vote on Friday. It failed to advance out of the Rules Committee, but the House will consider it under a suspension of the rules, which means it will require two-thirds support to pass. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, announced the proposal on Monday amid mounting pressure from members in both parties to hold a vote on a bipartisan Senate package that includes support for the U.S. allies. The $95 billion supplemental funding package that passed the Senate in February has stagnated for months in the House as Johnson has debated a path forward. The three foreign aid bills would provide $26.4 billion to support Israel, $60.8 billion to bolster Ukraine and $8.1 billion to counter China in the Indo-Pacific, including billions for Taiwan.
Greene, a MAGA loyalist, said she voted to condemn both Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 but she will continue voting "no" on spending "American's hard earned tax dollars to fund wars defending foreign country's borders." The House has already approved a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package in November for Israel that the Senate declined to take up. The bill targeted the Internal Revenue Service for cuts, though the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said doing so would end up costing the federal government a net $12.5 billion because of lost revenue from tax collections. Democrats kept the door open to backing Johnson's plan, as long as it included aid to the three U.S. allies and humanitarian assistance. House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California said Tuesday they were "more concerned about the substance" of the legislation "than we are the process." Lawmakers expressed new urgency around approving the funds for Israel after it faced unprecedented airstrikes by Iran over the weekend, which came in retaliation for an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria.
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