House Speaker Mike Johnson over the weekend urged his Republican colleagues to pass a stand-alone Israel aid bill worth $17.6 billion. It was a “clean” bill with no spending cuts attached, and that was a problem for many in the GOP. The effort was voted down 250-180 with 14 Republicans voting against it.
After Israel civilians were attacked by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, the House in early November passed as Israel aid bill for $14.3 billion. It also included $14.3 billion in cuts to IRS funding. That bill has never been considered by the Democrat-controlled Senate.
Business Insider in November cited a report from the Congressional Budget Office that said that the GOP bill would result in $26 billion in lost revenue.
“House Republicans’ legislation would increase the deficit by helping wealthy individuals and corporations cheat on their taxes, increasing the tax burden on honest, hardworking families who pay their taxes with every paycheck,” Treasury spokesperson Ashley Schapitl told the news outlet.
“We absolutely here in Israel need American support politically and financially," author Joel Rosenberg, now the publisher of All Israel News, said on American Family Radio Wednesday. "This is a brutal war by people who have sworn to kill us all and to launch another Oct. 7 and another, and another, and another until they kill us all. They’re on record."
Rosenberg told show host Jenna Ellis that President Joe Biden and Democrats are not taking a serious approach to the Israel-Hamas problem.
“The Biden administration is not putting enough pressure on Congress to get this deal done, and the Democrats in Congress are not being helpful,” he said.
House members disagree on immediacy of funding need
The House Freedom Caucus issued a statement opposing the stand-alone bill on Sunday evening.
“It is extremely disappointing that the Speaker is now surrendering to perceived pressure to move an even larger but now unpaid-for Israel aid package – reversing course on his stance to require new supplemental spending to be off-set,” the group wrote on X. “Conservatives should not be forced to choose between borrowing money to support our special friend Israel or honoring our commitment to end unpaid supplemental spending that exacerbates our nation’s unsustainable fiscal crisis and further risks our ability to respond to future crises.”
Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) said on Washington Watch Tuesday that the timing of Israel’s continued war makes it necessary to move forward with aid even without spending cuts attached.
“Israel is in the fight of its life, and now is not the time to turn our back on Israel. Let's make up that money somewhere else. Let's claw back that money from the IRS agents. Let's get that done going forward. But right now, our greatest ally needs us,” he told show host Tony Perkins. “There's a lot of things we can get money back from if we have the political willpower, but let's not make Israel pay the price for it right now.”
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina) disagrees. He told Perkins the Israel aid is a “legitimate ask” but says there are too many ways to cut spending alongside it regardless of timing.
“What gets me is the fact that we're not even fighting for cuts. The only thing this administration has done well is to spend our money, and we have so many things that we can at least fight for to support Israel, which is our only democracy in the Middle East. I fully support what they’re doing. I support the fact that they're fighting for their survival. All we would need to do to get full support, in my opinion, is to offer up some, some savings,” Norman said.
Norman offered three suggestions from what he said is a lengthy list of places Republicans could demand spending cuts.
“There’s the IRS, which would be $80 billion, a climate change tax credit -- get this -- for $663 billion, and there’s the FBI building. The list goes on and on.
“What's frustrating to me is that we're killing the goose at lays the eggs. This country cannot keep doing this. I don't know when this Congress is going to take spending seriously. We cannot keep this trajectory up -- $36 trillion in debt interest. The debt loan is like $80,000 per second. We just can't keep going,” Norman said.
Rosenberg: Biden administration could do much more
Israel needs political support from the U.S. as much as financial support. Biden isn’t pressuring Congress but also isn’t doing enough to persuade other countries, Rosenberg said.
“President Biden isn’t doing enough to pressure Qatar, the tiny Gulf country that supports Hamas, where top Hamas leaders are living in Dohar, the capital. There’s a military base, a U.S. CENTCOM base in Qatar, so the Biden administration has enormous leverage over Qatar.
“Iran actually funds Hamas through Qatar. How is it first of all that the U.S. is an ally of a country supporting Hamas in this genocidal war? That’s insane. Then why isn’t the Biden administration saying, ‘Look, we’re either going to pull out, cut you guys loose and consider you a pariah country or you’re going to force Hamas to give up all the hostages immediately?’
“This is the only way it’s going to happen in the end,” Rosenberg said.
