House to vote on Israel aid without Ukraine funds next week

The US House will next week vote on a standalone $17.6 billion Israel aid package without any Ukraine aid, Speaker Mike Johnson said, Report informs via Bloomberg.

Johnson said the move is needed to get aid to Israel quickly in its battle with Hamas in the Gaza Strip because there is no time to consider a package combining aid to Ukraine and Israel with US-Mexico border security provisions. That proposal is set to be released soon by the Senate after lengthy negotiations.

The Israel bill unveiled Saturday is the latest sign that House Republicans are prepared to delay action on Ukraine aid indefinitely due to disputes over US migration policy, reflecting that aid for Israel is far more popular with the House GOP than aiding Ukraine. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre called it a “cynical political maneuver.”

The bill includes funds for Israel’s Iron Dome and Iron Beam missile defense systems, funds for US military operations in the Middle East and enhanced protection for US personnel at embassies. It won’t have offsetting spending cuts, unlike a $14 billion Israel aid bill that passed the House over Democratic objections.

“Given the Senate’s failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion, and the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel, the House will continue to lead,” Johnson said in a letter to colleagues.

“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,” he said. “The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.

The bill seeks to address US military funding needs for the buildup in operations in the Middle East after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s subsequent military incursion in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

Iranian-backed groups have attacked on Red Sea shipping and American troops and allies stationed in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 7. The House proposal would provide $3.3 billion to fund the US’s response and $200 million for protection of US personnel and evacuations of US citizens.

The Pentagon is operating under a stopgap funding measure and would otherwise need emergency spending to pay for its ramp-up.

The extra funding compared to the November bill is for US military activities in the region, bill author Representative Ken Calvert of California said.

Jean-Pierre denounced House plan, suggesting it was designed to collide with the Senate’s bipartisan approach tying together border security and aid to Israel as well as Ukraine.

“Just as legislative text is imminent, the House Republicans come up with their latest cynical political maneuver,” she said in a statement. “The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game.”

The original House bill claimed to pay for Israel aid by cutting Internal Revenue Service tax enforcement funding. Democrats said that move would have widened the US budget deficit due to revenue losses from increased tax cheating.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office also concluded the lost revenue would add more to the deficit than the IRS spending cut.