The President has pledged to increase military support for Israel after the land, sea and air attacks by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 resulted in more than 1,400 deaths, mostly innocent civilians, and the kidnappings of hundreds of others. Biden also wants more spending for Ukraine in its war against Russia. The U.S. has spent more than $44 billion in Ukraine since the invasion began in February of 2022.
Not only will Speaker Johnson try to pass separate aid bills, he'll try to cut from an earlier Biden initiative – $80 billion that went to the Internal Revenue Service. He wants to fund Biden's request for $14.3 billion for Israel in part with money budgeted but not spent by the IRS last year as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
"We're going to get rid of some terrorists [instead of funding] some unnecessary IRS agents," Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) said on Washington Watch Monday. "That's a trade I'm willing to make every single day of the week, especially in support of our strongest ally Israel while they're under this unprovoked attack from Hamas and other like-minded terrorists."
The President's attempted conjoining of Israel and Ukraine spending comes as many Republicans are losing interest in the Russia-Ukraine war.
"[The Biden administration is] having difficulty selling funds for Ukraine," Perry said. "There's no oversight there – we've spent billions of dollars there [and] no one knows where it's gone; and of course, we don't know what the mission is. So, they're trying to throw the existential threat that Israel is facing right now in on top of that."
Pushback possible in the Senate
Not all Republicans see it that way, and if Johnson gets his plan through the House it could receive pushback in the Senate. Biden's $106 billion proposal also includes funding for Taiwan and the U.S. southern border.
"I do think it needs to be comprehensive," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said, referring to the funding bill. "I think it needs to deal with all of these because they are all interrelated."
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-South Dakota) expressed concerns about the timing of individual bills.
"It's hard to see how, just from a scheduling standpoint, if you had to move all those bills separately, how you get that done with any kind of speed around here," he said.
For several House Republicans – including Perry – combined spending bills were part of the problem with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who was ousted from his position in early October.
"America is sick of these packages. They want to see these things separated. They want to know how their members vote on it," the Pennsylvania lawmaker told show host Tony Perkins. "They don't want the old excuse, 'Well, I had to vote for the Ukraine funding because it was important that we take care of our ally Israel, and that was all in one package, and I didn't have any choice.'"
Welcome to a 'new day' in the House
Perry says each funding objective is worthy of discussion on its own merit.
"We need to give the American people and members of Congress and Senate the choice by doing them on a stand-alone basis and let's see where the votes fall. Let's let each one of these very important issues have their own debate, and let's let the points be made," he said.
Perry expressed confidence House Republicans will pass Johnson's bill.
"[I see] some of those [Senate] Republicans … in this case as very much the same as the White House and the Democrats in the Senate," Perry lamented. "Americans are sick of the shell game in Washington, DC.
"With all due respect, I have my faith in the Good Lord first and in Mike Johnson, in this regard, second. We have a new Speaker. It's a new day. We're going to do things different. Welcome to it, everybody."
