House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Saturday that the House will vote next week on a standalone bill providing aid for Israel, CNN reported.
Johnson put a $14.3 billion Israel aid package on the floor last year that included partisan IRS funding cuts.
US Senate Democrats later blocked the bill, taking issue with the bill over the fact that it would enact funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and that it did not include aid to Ukraine. Later, Senate Republicans blocked aid for Israel and Ukraine from advancing in protest over the dispute about border security policy.
Now, the Louisiana Republican is planning to move a $17.6 billion Israel bill with no offsets, upping pressure on Democrats to support it.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter to lawmakers on Saturday, Johnson attacked senators for excluding him and the House from bipartisan negotiations over a border security deal, which is expected to be paired with aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.
“While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed doors 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. “As I have said consistently for the past three months, the House will have to work its will on these issues and our priorities will need to be addressed.”
Johnson called on the Senate to take up the standalone Israel bill swiftly, ratcheting up pressure on senators to abandon their efforts to keep Israel aid linked with other issues.
“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. “The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”
The White House swiftly blasted the move, which would upend the Biden administration’s efforts to pass a national security supplemental funding package that includes additional funding for Ukraine and the US-Mexico border.
“The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “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.”
As lawmakers continued to stall the aid to Israel, the Biden administration bypassed Congress in December and approved the emergency sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106 million.