Increasing aid to Israel, reducing national security funding, the first bill under the new US House Speaker faces many storms

The US House of Representatives finally has a new speaker, but the congressional deadlock over foreign aid remains unchanged.

Chủ tịch Hạ viện Mỹ Mike Johnson, ngày 25/10. (Nguồn: Getty Images)

US House Speaker Mike Johnson, October 25. (Source: Getty Images)

On October 30, new House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced a controversial GOP bill that would separate funding for Israel and Ukraine and remove $14.3 billion in aid to Israel from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) budget.

In response, Senate Democrats are expected to reject Mr Johnson's austerity plan.

The White House said on October 31 that President Biden would veto a package put forward by House Republicans because it provides aid to Israel but cuts funding to the IRS and does not cover other national security priorities.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) dismissed the House Republican proposal in a lengthy administration policy statement, arguing that it “injects partisanship into support for Israel” and fails to meet the timing by eliminating humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, aid to Ukraine and allies in the Indo-Pacific.

“This bill is bad for Israel, bad for the Middle East, and bad for our national security,” OMB said.

The White House further asserted that the Republican proposal marks a break with bipartisan precedent by seeking to defund part of the emergency national security package.

“Congress has consistently worked in a bipartisan manner to provide security assistance to Israel, and this bill risks unnecessarily undermining that longstanding approach,” OMB said. “The separation of Israel’s security assistance from other priorities in the national security supplement has global consequences.”

The OMB statement on October 31 said the administration continues to work with lawmakers in Congress to ensure agreement on the additional request the White House made earlier in October.

As for the proposed new aid package, it would cut IRS funding included in the Deflation Relief Act, a sweeping tax, health care and climate bill signed into law last year as one of President Biden’s signature policy achievements.

The package also deviates from the White House's strategy of linking aid to Ukraine and Israel in the same piece of legislation, which could make it even harder to get the bill over the finish line.

Last week, the White House outlined a request for additional national security funding worth about $106 billion, including money for Israel and Ukraine, which is resisting Russian aggression, as well as investment in the Indo-Pacific, humanitarian aid and border security measures.

The package is one of the first pieces of legislation introduced under House Speaker Mike Johnson, who took office last week.

The House Rules Committee is set to consider the bill on November 1. It is expected to face a number of hurdles, including getting through the Democratic-controlled Senate, where lawmakers want to link aid to both Ukraine and Israel.

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