03 February 2024 , 19:57
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The House will vote on a standalone Israel aid bill next week, without any offsetting spending cuts, speaker Mike Johnson, R-La told Republicans on Saturday.
Johnson criticized the impending Senate legislation that would lump Israel aid in with border security and asylum laws and funding for Ukraine in a letter to colleagues today, in which he also announced the vote.
“While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed doors negotiations, their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation," Johnson wrote, adding that the House "will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed."
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Johnson railed against the Senate for what he said was its "failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion," he said the House needed to act in the absence of leadership from the upper chamber amid "the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel."
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"Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” he wrote. “During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”
The bill would see $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for the U.S. Forces in the region,” Johnson’s office said.
Johnson said the House needs to act in the absence of leadership from the upper chamber (Getty Images)The White House has previously said it opposes a standalone Israel aid bill, with John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications saying in November, "The president would veto an only-Israel bill. We — I think that we’ve made that clear."
The unexpected move by Johnson indicates that Israel aid is the only part of President Joe Biden ’s national security supplemental request that House Republicans are prepared to pass, while he digs in his heels on an immigration compromise and Ukraine funding.
The speaker's office said the legislation, called the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, is set to be introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.
Whether the Senate will take up a standalone Israel aid bill remains unclear. The text for the broader supplemental and immigration bill is expected to be released on Sunday, and majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants to start voting on the bill next week.