The White House slammed House Republicans on Saturday for introducing a $17.6 billion bill aimed at providing additional aid to Israel during its ongoing conflict in the Middle East, describing it as a “cynical political maneuver.”
The administration specifically denounced the bill, which Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) stated the House would vote on next week, accusing GOP lawmakers of singling out aid for only one U.S. ally as the Senate negotiates on the bipartisan border and aid package.
“For months, the administration has been working with a bipartisan group of Senators on a national security agreement that secures our border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel,” stated White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a release on Saturday. “Just as legislative text is imminent, the House Republicans come up with their latest cynical political maneuver. The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game.”
The statement was issued as Johnson unveiled a “clean, standalone” Israel aid bill earlier in the day.
The new legislation, described by Johnson as a “clean, standalone” bill, would diverge from the progress made in the upper chamber as senators continue to negotiate on the bipartisan bill. While the text has not been made public yet, it is expected to be released sometime this weekend.
The $17.6 billion bill follows the lower chamber’s passage of a $14.3 billion Israel aid package last November, which involved proportional cuts to IRS funding. It was approved with a 226-196 vote in the House but has not been taken up in the Senate.
The White House once again urged the House GOP to collaborate with the administration and the Senate in passing the national security bill, which includes funding for Ukraine, a key focus for President Biden.
“We strongly oppose this ploy, which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to assist the people of Ukraine in defending themselves against Putin’s aggression, and denies humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are women and children, which the Israelis supported by opening the access route,” Jean-Pierre wrote. “House Republicans should instead work in a bipartisan manner, as the administration and Senate are doing, on these critical national security issues.”
However, Johnson stated on Friday that if reports about potential terms of the deal were accurate, it would be “dead on arrival” in the House.
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