House Republicans have detailed their standalone bill to provide $14.3 billion in emergency aid for Israel, with GOP leadership aiming to hold a vote on the legislation this week.
The bill, which separates out Israel aid from the Biden administration’s larger emergency spending request that included Ukraine assistance, is likely to face pushback from Democrats for offsetting the costs with $14.3 billion in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) budget cuts.
“Emergency supplemental funding is used to address urgent crises. House Republicans are setting a dangerous precedent by suggesting that protecting national security or responding to natural disasters is contingent upon cuts to other programs. The partisan bill House Republicans introduced stalls our ability to help Israel defend itself and does not include a penny for humanitarian assistance,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Monday.
New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said over the weekend he supported separating Israel and Ukraine aid and considering the former as its own bill, while Senate leadership has suggested bipartisan support for a larger supplemental spending package that includes assistance for both countries (Defense Daily, Oct. 25).
The White House’s $106 billion emergency spending package unveiled on October 20 included the $14.3 billion in aid for Israel, which follows Hamas’ incursion on October 7 and as the country pursues a ground invasion of Gaza, as well as $61.4 billion for continued Ukraine support amid as Russia’s ongoing invasion (Defense Daily, Oct. 20).
House Republicans’ bill rolled out Monday adheres to the spending figures for aid to Israel laid out in the Biden administration’s request, to include $4.4 billion to support Pentagon efforts to replace stockpiles of equipment sent to Israel and $801 million for Army ammunition procurement to increase production capacity.
The bill also includes providing Israel with $4 billion for procurement of Iron Dome air defense system and David’s Sling short-range ballistic missile defense capabilities, $1.2 billion for its Iron Beam laser-based defense system, and $3.5 billion in Foreign Military Financing funds to purchase U.S.-made defense equipment.
The U.S. is currently planning to provide Israel with two batteries of the Iron Dome air defense system, the Pentagon confirmed last week (Defense Daily, Oct. 26).