KEY POINTS
- House Speaker Mike Johnson announced in a Saturday letter to colleagues about voting on the bill
- The announcement challenges a long-awaited Senate bill that is expected to includes assistance for Israel and Ukraine
- The White House criticized House Republicans for the $17.6 billion bill and called it a "cynical political maneuver"
The House will vote next week on a standalone bill providing aid for Israel amidst the ongoing war in the Middle East, House Speaker Mike Johnson announced in a letter to colleagues Saturday.
The bill includes $17.6 billion for Israel without funding offsets and also omits continued U.S. assistance to Ukraine, a top priority for the Biden administration that has seen falling support from GOP lawmakers.
Johnson's announcement comes as a challenge to a Senate proposal, which has been in negotiations for months and is expected to be released this weekend. The long-awaited Senate bill is expected to include assistance for Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific allies and also address border security funding.
The Republican-majority House had already approved a nearly $14.5 billion military aid package in November for Israel, but the Senate declined to take it up.
"While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed door 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 in the letter.
"Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package," the speaker added.
The White House criticized House Republicans for the $17.6 billion bill and called it a "cynical political maneuver."
"For months the administration has been working with a bipartisan group of Senators on a national security agreement that secures our border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel. Just as legislative text is imminent, the House Republicans come up with their latest cynical political maneuver," said a Saturday statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
"The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game. We strongly oppose this ploy which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Putin's aggression, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of them women and children, which the Israelis supported by opening the access route," the statement added. "House Republicans should instead work in a bipartisan way, like the administration and Senate are doing, on these pressing national security issues."
