The US House of Representatives plans to vote next week to advance $17.6bn in military aid to Israel without any accompanying spending cuts or assistance for Ukraine, according to Mike Johnson, the chamber’s speaker.
Johnson announced to his fellow House Republicans on Saturday that the vote would take place, while also criticizing a parallel move in the US Senate to pair funding for Israel in its military strikes in Gaza with aid for Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion. The Senate measure also aims to attach a raft of tough border and asylum measures favored by rightwingers to aid for Israel.
A compromise on these various aims had been sought by a bipartisan group in the Senate that hoped to find increasingly rare common ground between Republicans and Democrats. But Johnson, a hardline rightwing Republican from north-western Louisiana, has said the Senate package would not pass the House because it is not sufficiently tough on people trying to cross the US’s southern border with Mexico.
“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 of members of the US Senate in his letter to his House Republican colleagues. “Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package.”
A higher priority for Johnson is the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, with a House vote expected next week. Some Republicans have expressed reluctance to find a compromise on immigration or Ukraine given how ongoing controversy on these issues could aid Donald Trump, who holds a single-minded grip over his party as he seeks another presidency in this year’s election.
It’s unclear whether the Senate would advance a bill that only provides military aid to Israel to further pursue its war against Hamas, an effort that has already reduced much of Gaza to rubble and caused a humanitarian crisis among the Palestinian population.
The Democratic Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, has said he would prefer to work on an overall package that aids Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression – as well as Israel and includes a set of new immigration curbs.
The Joe Biden White House has also signaled that it is not in favor of an Israel aid-only bill. In November, John Kirby, a spokesperson for Biden’s national security council, said that the president would veto a bill that only provides aid to Israel.
Congressman Brad Schneider, who has been a vocal supporter of Israel, also spoke out against the bill in a statement on Saturday.
“Israel is fighting an existential war against Hamas – a nihilistic, genocidal terrorist army – while also being attacked by Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Iranian proxies in Syria, Houthis in Yemen, and terror cells in the West Bank. There is no question the United States must support our ally Israel, and I will vote yes for the clean supplemental appropriation.
“But it is folly to think that what is happening now in the Middle East is unrelated to what is happening concurrently in Ukraine. If Putin wins in Europe, the aid we are providing Israel today is only a small fraction of what will be needed when Israel faces a strengthened Hezbollah, backed by an emboldened Iran and newly empowered Russia.”
He continued: “It is also folly to not provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinian civilians caught in the middle of the war in Gaza. Israel has opened Karem Shalom crossing and is allowing trucks to cross the border. We need to help aid get from the crossings to the people who need it, and ensure it is kept away from the thieving hands of Hamas. Sadly, the House GOP is again turning a blind eye.
“It is shameful that Speaker Johnson and the House GOP refuse to step up and ensure the United States continues to lead and support our allies in their time of need.”
