Last Updated on April 15, 2024
Just shy of 100 House Republicans and Democrats are demanding Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to bring the Senate-passed multi-nation military aid package before the House using Iran’s rebuttal attack against Israel for their pivoting point.
In the letter sent out Sunday, the US reps push Johnson to bring the $95 billion national security supplemental aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan to the House floor.
This weekend, the Iranian regime launched hundreds of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles directly against our key, democratic ally in the Middle East, Israel. Time is of the essence, and we must ensure critical aid is delivered to Israel and our other democratic allies facing threats from our adversaries around the world.
We urge you to put the Senate Supplemental Aid package on the floor for an immediate vote when we return on Monday. This aid package passed the Senate with 70 votes, Democrats and Republicans, and we can send it to the President’s desk for signature Monday night.
The letter was spearheaded by AIPAC-backed Reps. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. And a whopping 89 representatives from both parties signed the letter.
https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1779544515658838257
Johnson has been trying to balance the GOP and work around the Senate’s package, particularly because of the aid to Ukraine. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has been outspoken against the aid to Ukraine, but not Israel, even threatening to hold a vote to oust Johnson, according to The Hill.
It’s seems increasingly likely that the strategy to get Ukraine foreign aid through Congress will be to attach Israel foreign aid to it.
But those should be separate votes. Which of these best reflects your preference?
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) April 14, 2024
The outlet also reported that upon Johnson’s meeting with Trump on Friday, he referenced an openness to the House passing more funding for Ukraine. Trump referred to it as a loan, but more time would be required to change the already-passed legislation. According to most polling data, such as the one from Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky, most Americans do not want to foot the bill for any of these military aid packages. Still, Congress is pressing forward.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chair, Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who has received $372,468 just this year from the pro-Israel lobby said on Sunday’s CBS’s “Face the Nation:”
We can’t just pick and say, Iran is bad, but Russia is OK, and China is bad. … They’re all in this together. And it’s very clear to those of us in the intelligence, national security community.
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The Hill said the majority of both parties in Congress want a comprehensive aid package to Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific — not the people that voted them in. The representatives view these three areas to be connected, and they do not want a precedent where one country is set priority over the others — yet they do not mention Israel.
