The United States House of Representatives will vote on Thursday on a Republican proposal to grant $14.3 billion in aid to Israel in its fight against Hamas, setting up a showdown with the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House.
The bill is the new Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s first major legislative activity. President Joe Biden has pledged to veto the bill if it passes the House. He is requesting a larger $106 billion package that includes aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, as well as humanitarian assistance.
The Israel bill passed its first test on Thursday morning, when the House backed a motion that cleared the door for a vote on passage later in the day by a vote of 213-200.
The bill would limit Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funds in order to provide military help to Israel, which fought Hamas on the fringes of Gaza City on Thursday.
The funding would include $4 billion for the purchase of Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling defense systems, as well as some transfers of equipment from US stockpiles.
Republicans control the House with a 221-212 majority, but Democrats control the Senate 51-49. The bill would have to pass both the House and Senate and be signed by Biden in order to become law.
Chuck Schumer, the leading Democrat in the Senate, predicted that even if the Republican package cleared the House, it would die in the Senate. The White House has threatened to veto the bill.
Senate leaders are working on their own bipartisan bill.
The decision to reduce IRS funding faced opposition from Democrats, who argued that it would escalate the national budget deficit by curbing tax revenue. Additionally, they emphasized the importance of maintaining support for Ukraine in its ongoing battle against the Russian invasion since February 2022. Although many Democrats and Republicans remain steadfast in their support for Ukraine, a smaller faction of vocal Republicans have raised concerns about allocating more funds to the Kyiv government amidst significant budget deficits.
Speaker Johnson, who previously opposed providing aid to Ukraine, revealed plans to introduce a bill that would merge aid for Ukraine with funding to bolster security along the U.S.-Mexico border. “Ukraine will be addressed soon. It’s next in line,” Johnson stated during a press conference on Thursday, emphasizing the intention to create bipartisan consensus on both issues.
Since the commencement of the invasion, Congress has allocated $113 billion for Ukraine. Meanwhile, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported on Wednesday that the proposed IRS reductions and the standalone bill’s Israel aid could contribute close to $30 billion to the current $1.7 trillion U.S. budget deficit.
