Reaction has been swift and severe when it comes to reports that the Biden administration was halting aid to Israel. President Joe Biden himself also just last week confirmed to CNN's Erin Burnett that he would halt aid if our ally in the Middle East dared move forward with their operation in Rafah. On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee will meet on the Israel Security Assistance Support Act. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) mentioned a vote could come as soon as Wednesday.
On Monday evening, Axios reported on how "Democrats face rupture over vote to force Israel arms shipments," with a focus on Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). "I have a general rule of supporting pro-Israel legislation unless it includes a poison pill--like cuts to domestic policy," he's quoted as telling the outlet.
Torres also signed onto a letter led by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) that was mentioned in the report. In it, the 26 House Democrats expressed they were "deeply concerned about the message the Administration is sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies." The outlet also mentioned that "Several of those Democrats are reviewing the GOP legislation, their spokespeople told Axios."
The bill in question, sponsored by Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), "provides FY2024 supplemental appropriations to the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of State for activities to respond to the attacks in Israel. The bill designates the funding as emergency spending, which is exempt from discretionary spending limits."
Last month, the president signed a foreign aid package into law--which included support for Israel--with such a package receiving bipartisan opposition and support.
Axios mentioned other pro-Israel bills, which have passed with bipartisan support, though the piece claims many of them are just "messaging" bills:
Zoom out: Democrats have found themselves repeatedly at each other's throats over Israel since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war last October.
- Republicans have repeatedly put Israel-related bills on the floor during that period – often symbolic "messaging" bills that Democrats complain are mainly meant to divide them.
- This bill, however, would have a real impact: Forcing the administration to stop withholding weapons shipments and choking off funding for the Pentagon and State Department if they refuse to comply.
During Monday's White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre not surprisingly came out strongly against the bill, while also downplaying the aid that has been halted.
A reporter had pointed out that "it's obviously a response to the president's comments over the last week," wanting to know "is that something that the White House would oppose," and if they "were talking to Democrats who might be inclined to go with Republicans on this?"
Like a broken record, Jean-Pierre, just as NSA Advisor Jake Sullivan had also claimed during the press briefing, that "this president has been very clear," which is that "his commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad." Adding insult to injury, she even added "that has not changed" and that they "share Israel's goal of defeating Hamas and will continue to stand with Israel to make that happen," repeating "we've been very clear." This repeated claim continues to ring hollow as the Biden administration has increasingly been emboldening Hamas.
Reading directly from her binder, Jean-Pierre sought to downplay the matter by offering "we have paused only one shipment." She went on to mention that "so regarding this bill, we strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the president's ability to deploy U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives."
Q: "The House is likely to vote on the Israel Security Assistance Support Act later this week, which would ban the administration from withholding military aid to Israel that hasn't been Congressionally approved...Is that something that the White House would oppose?"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 13, 2024
Karine… pic.twitter.com/OesbHQM6W6
It remains to be seen as to if the bill will even reach the president's desk for him to likely veto, though. "A spokesperson for Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not respond to several requests for comment," Axios noted.
While Schumer gave a lengthy floor speech last November that was well-received by both sides of the aisle for calling out antisemitism on the left, he's since been heavily criticized for his more recent speech in March calling for Israelis to hold new elections to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schumer's also been more muted and delayed in his responses calling out antisemitism on college campuses as pro-Hamas protests rage across the country.