House Speaker House Mike Johnson watches as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) delivers remarks on Oct. 25, 2023. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh
February 4, 2024
House Democrats were unsure Sunday whether or not they would support a stand-alone $17.6 billion Israel aid bill, introduced by House Speaker Mike Johnson and dismissed by the White House as a “ploy” to bypass aid for Ukraine and avoid a compromise on immigration.
“We will evaluate that legislation over the next few days,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in an interview on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
Johnson said that the House will vote later this week on a stand-alone military supply package for Israel to help in the fight against Hamas in Gaza.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Saturday that the deal is a “cynical political maneuver,” adding that “the security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game.”
Meanwhile, the Senate aimed to pass a comprehensive, bipartisan foreign aid and border security bill this week. But negotiations stalled amid fierce opposition from former President Donald Trump, and Republican reluctance to provide Ukraine more aid in the war with Russia.
In a letter to colleagues on Saturday, Johnson accused Senate negotiators of excluding him from the talks and dared the opposite party to oppose a legislative package centered exclusively on assistance to Israel. In November, House Democrats accused Johnson of setting a “dreadful precedent” for conditioning the original $14.3 billion military assistance bill with deep cuts in the Internal Revenue Service’s budget. Only 12 Democrats broke ranks with their party and voted in favor of the bill.
“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,” Johnson wrote, referring to cuts at the IRS. “The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”
“We cannot wait any longer,” Johnson said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday.
Acknowledging the challenge, Jeffries maintained that “the responsible approach is a comprehensive one to address America’s national security priorities.” But he stopped short of rejecting the measure, saying Congress must support “Israel’s ability to defend itself against Hamas and to defeat Hamas.”
Rep. Ritchie Torres, a pro-Israel progressive from New York, suggested last week that Congress should separate the Israel military aid package from the border security and immigration bill to pass it immediately as a stand-alone bill.
A spokesperson for Sen. Chuck Schumer didn’t immediately respond whether the House bill would be dead on arrival in the Senate. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan did not address a question on Meet the Press about whether President Joe Biden would sign or veto a stand-alone Israel aid bill.
