Speaker Johnson firm on IRS offset funding in Israel package, dares Dems to vote against it

Speaker Mike Johnson said he’s not open to introducing another version of his Israel aid package that doesn’t include money meant to fund the IRS.


Mr. Johnson, Louisiana Republican, is rooted in his push to use funding from the tax agency to prop up his $14.3 billion aid legislation, despite Democrats in the House and Senate balking at the idea and President Biden threatening to veto the bill. 


“If Democrats in the Senate or the House or anywhere else want to argue that hiring more IRS agents is more important than standing with Israel in this moment, I’m ready to have that debate,” Mr. Johnson said. 

He added, “I did not attach that for political purposes. I attached it because, again, we’re trying to get back to the principle of fiscal responsibility here, and that was the easiest and largest pile of money that’s sitting there for us to be able to pay for this immediate obligation.”

The bill advanced a procedural hurdle. Lawmakers will decide whether to pass the bill on Thursday evening. 

The House’s Israel aid package is a response to Mr. Biden’s $106 billion emergency funding request that would tie funding for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and administration border policies. 


Mr. Johnson’s bill takes funding from the $80 billion pool given to the IRS from the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act and is touted as a way to offset spending and cut into the deficit. However, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report that the reshuffling of money would add over $12 billion to the deficit over the next decade. 

Not every House Republican is on board with the bill. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Thomas Massie of Kentucky have promised to vote no, arguing that American debt is too high and that foreign countries should borrow money on their own. 

Mr. Johnson said he spoke with both lawmakers and was optimistic that even the most fiscally minded conservatives would support the package. 

Meanwhile, Republicans believe that some Democrats might support the aid package. Others prefer sticking with Mr. Biden’s emergency package.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, said a “broad consensus” exists among his colleagues to pass the president’s request in its entirety. He said tying Israel’s aid to a cut in the domestic budget is “an extremely dangerous road” to go down when it comes to assistance for any U.S. ally. 

“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to say before we get aid to Democratic allies, there needs to be a cut [to the] domestic budget,” Mr. Raskin said. “Why would we pit our foreign and domestic budget priorities against each other in that way?”