House Speaker Mike Johnson accused President Biden of abandoning Israel in its hour of need by threatening to veto a standalone aid bill.
He said the aid for Israel’s war with Hamas will get there faster and get it “off the table” by decoupling it from President Biden’s border policy and foreign aid package that also includes money for Ukraine and Taiwan.
“It is outrageous and shameful that the President of the United States would suggest that he would veto support for them in their hour of greatest need,” Mr. Johnson said. “Israel is fighting for the right to exist as a nation. And the President of the United States wants to play games with this.”
It is Mr. Johnson’s second attempt at a standalone Israel aid bill and comes as the president’s $118 billion package is on life support in the Democrat-run Senate and dead on arrival in the GOP-run House.
The speaker’s standalone emergency aid for Israel drew the veto threat on Monday. The House is set to vote on it Tuesday.
Mr. Johnson’s latest offering increases the price tag to $17.6 billion and does not offset spending as did the previous version the House passed in October.
The bill will need support from at least two-thirds of the House to pass. Issues such as the price tag, where the money comes from, and removing it from the bigger package threaten to sink it.
Mr. Johnson, Lousiana Republican, said the increasing danger for U.S. service members in the region is the reason for the added $3 billion. He argued that the extra funding is needed immediately to replenish munition stockpiles in the face of attacks from groups funded by Iran.
But the deficit spending drew sharp criticism from members of the House Freedom Caucus who vowed to vote against the bill because it adds to the country’s staggering debt.
Democrats universally panned Mr. Johnson’s previous Israel aid bill because it would have rerouted money from the IRS to pay for it. The Congressional Budget Office and the IRS cut would have increased the federal deficit by about $12 billion from lost tax revenue.
Mr. Johnson nixed the offset spending in the hope of garnering more support from Democrats, but they are unlikely to provide the speaker any help this time, especially with the broader foreign aid package teetering on the brink of failure.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Democrat, urged members of his conference to vote against the bill.
“It is a nakedly obvious and cynical attempt by MAGA extremists to undermine the possibility of a comprehensive, bipartisan funding package that addresses America’s national security challenges in the Middle East, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region and throughout the world,” Mr. Jeffries said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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