Speaker Mike Johnson has changed his decision and said that the US House will now vote on an standalone $17.6 billion Israel aid package without any Ukraine aid.
“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, adding that the House “will have to work its will on these issues, and our priorities will need to be addressed.”
Johnson criticized the Senate for what he called its “failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion,” arguing that the House needs to take action in the absence of leadership from the upper chamber amid “the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel.”
“Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” he wrote. “During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made it clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”
The bill is expected to include $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel “as well as important funding for U.S. Forces in the region,” Johnson’s office said. A prior bill passed by the House, early in Johnson’s speakership, would have provided $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, attached to IRS cuts that Democrats said were a poison pill.
The legislation, known as the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, is set to be introduced by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., according to the speaker’s office.
This unexpected move indicates that Johnson is taking a firm stance against an immigration compromise and Ukraine funding, while signaling that Israel aid is the only part of President Joe Biden’s national security supplemental request that House Republicans are prepared to pass.
It remains uncertain whether the Senate will consider a stand-alone Israel aid bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has expressed a desire to start voting next week on the broader supplemental and immigration bill, with the text expected to be released on Sunday.
The White House has previously indicated opposition to a stand-alone Israel aid bill, with the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, John Kirby, stating in November, “The president would veto an only-Israel bill. We — I think that we’ve made that clear.”
