House to vote on standalone Israel aid bill, setting up showdown with Senate

Table Of Content

• US House Republicans' Israel-only aid bill faces opposition in Senate
• Remarks by President Biden on the Passage of H.R. 815, the National Security Supplemental
• U.S. leaders urge a Congress to aid Israel, Ukraine
• Who is Mike Johnson, the new US Republican House speaker?
• Iran University Offers Scholarships to Expelled US Students
• Highway Collapse in China Kills 19: State Media

That measure includes provisions to address record-high crossings at the southern border and foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. Republicans have said they would support foreign aid to those countries if it is tied to new policies to restrict U.S. immigration. The stand-alone Israel bill includes $17.6 billion in military aid to the country, “as well as important funding for U.S.

US House Republicans' Israel-only aid bill faces opposition in Senate

It also contained a measure to help pave the way to selling off frozen Russian sovereign assets to help fund the Ukrainian war effort, and a new round of sanctions on Iran. The Senate is expected to pass the legislation as early as Tuesday and send it to President Biden’s desk, capping its tortured journey through Congress. Vance, Mike Lee, Roger Marshall, and Ted Cruz sponsored a stand-alone bill that would send funds to Israel but not to Ukraine, saying that the measure will prevent the money from getting blocked by Congress amid the expected opposition. Rep. Mike Johnson, the newly elected House speaker, who has previously voted against more aid to Ukraine, has said he's in favor of handling the request for aid to Israel and Ukraine separately. Republican representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky have announced they will oppose new U.S. aid to Israel, even if the measure comes as a standalone separate from a request for additional assistance for Ukraine—as House Republicans are now proposing. "To give the Netanyahu government more offensive weapons at this stage is to condone the utter destruction of Gaza we've seen over the last seven months and risks fueling a deadly regional war," said Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont, a progressive Jewish Democrat, in a statement ahead of her vote.

Remarks by President Biden on the Passage of H.R. 815, the National Security Supplemental

The bill’s $14.3 billion topline is consistent with what the White House requested for Israel in its war against Hamas.

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U.S. leaders urge a Congress to aid Israel, Ukraine

Greene first filed the motion to vacate resolution a month ago, in part over frustration with the speaker on how he handled a $1.2 trillion spending package. "If I operated out of fear over a motion to vacate, I would never be able to do my job," Johnson told reporters. Some on the far right have threatened to oust Johnson from the speakership over additional funding to Ukraine, which they oppose.

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Who is Mike Johnson, the new US Republican House speaker?

The ministry also said it “will coordinate the relevant budget uses with the United States through existing exchange mechanisms, and work hard to strengthen combat readiness capabilities to ensure national security and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”. However, reacting after the House approval, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the new US aid package would “deepen the crisis throughout the world”. “The vital U.S. aid bill passed today by the House will keep the war from expanding, save thousands and thousands of lives, and help both of our nations to become stronger,” Zelenskyy said on X. However, despite allocating funds for humanitarian assistance, the bill stipulates that funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) is prohibited.

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate said he felt the four issues needed to be addressed. She added that Israel and Ukraine were in very different situations, as she said that Ukraine was dependent on U.S. aid to continue its fight against Russia while Israel was a "strong thriving independent nation that prides itself on defending their own people." Johnson has repeatedly said he is “not worried” by the motion-to-vacate threats and that they do not guide his judgment on governing.

House to vote on standalone Israel aid bill, setting up showdown with Senate

Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who has previously supported aid for Ukraine and continues to do so, wants to separate the two requests to speed up assistance to Israel. "There's a tremendous need and desire to move quickly on Israel. So I think that it's important that we move forward with Israel—the sooner the better." "My colleagues and I firmly believe that any aid to Israel should not be used as leverage to send tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine," Marshall said, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. Vance, Lee and Marshall have previously opposed aid to Ukraine, while Cruz had supported it.

"It comes at a moment of grave urgency, with Israel facing unprecedented attacks from Iran, and Ukraine under continued bombardment from Russia," Biden said. In particular, it would allow the sale of frozen assets of Russian oligarchs to help fund future aid to Ukraine, potentially force the sale of TikTok and authorize stricter sanctions on Russia, China and Iran. Hard-right Republican opposition to the legislation — both on the House floor and in the critical Rules panel — forced Mr. Johnson to rely on Democrats to push the legislation across the finish line. And it raised questions about whether the political turmoil that has roiled the United States had effectively destroyed what has long been a strong bipartisan consensus in favor of projecting American values around the world.

Uncertainty over whether the Senate would take up the legislation passed by the House in March has set off an aggressive lobbying effort in the Senate and weeks of pressure on senators to advance the bill. By bundling the TikTok legislation with the high-profile aid for Ukraine and Israel, House leaders could force the Senate’s hand. And it will give TikTok’s China-based parent company nine months, which the president could extend to a year, to sell the popular social media platform or be banned in the U.S. That puts TikTok closer than ever before to a prohibition while ensuring that it won’t be banned until after the 2024 election.

But some Democrats have said they would be willing to help save Johnson’s speakership following his decision to advance Ukraine aid. “We should be funding to build up our weapons and ammunition, not to send it over to foreign countries,” she said before her proposal to zero out the money for Kyiv failed on a vote of 351 to 71. For months, it had been uncertain whether Congress would approve new funding for Ukraine, even as momentum shifted in Moscow’s favor. That prompted a wave of anxiety in Kyiv and in Europe that the United States, the single biggest provider of military aid to Ukraine, would turn its back on the young democracy.

In a nod to right-wing demands, Mr. Johnson allowed a vote just before the foreign aid bills on a stringent border enforcement measure, but it was defeated after failing to reach the two-thirds majority needed for passage. And the speaker refused to link the immigration bill to the foreign aid package, knowing that would effectively kill the spending plan. Thirty-seven liberal Democrats opposed the $26 billion aid package for Israel because the legislation placed no conditions on how Israel could use American funding, as the death toll in Gaza has reached more than 33,000 and the threat of famine looms. "This week the House will vote on $14.5 billion foreign aid package for Israel, in addition to the $3.8 billion that already passed. I will be a NO vote," Massie wrote on X. "Less than 1/3 of the 49,000 people who responded to my poll today support this additional funding. We simply can't afford it."

Johnson – who voted against previous aid packages for Kyiv – had resisted holding a Ukraine vote for months. He failed to pass a stand-alone Israel aid bill in February after the White House threatened to veto it given the lack of support for Kyiv. The speaker reversed course following Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last week. The House on Saturday passed military aid bills for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, more than six months after President Joe Biden initially submitted his massive foreign aid request to arm all three security partners.

"We should pass the support for Israel first," Johnson told his fellow Republicans in the Senate, as quoted by The Hill. "We just delude ourselves thinking we can pass something here in the Senate that is going to fly through the House. It won't. Let's get whatever Israel needs for Israel and then worry about the other things." Under an unconventional plan from House Speaker Mike Johnson, the bill will be sent to the Senate as part of a package that includes aid for Ukraine and Taiwan and a third bill that forces a sale of TikTok and allows the United States to confiscate Russian assets. Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., released the text of the military assistance bill for Israel. It would provide $4 billion to replenish missile defense systems and $1.2 billion to counter short-range rockets and mortar threats. There's also funding for the procurement of advanced weapons system and to enhance the production of artillery and other munitions.