White House Says No to Any Standalone Israel Funding Bill

National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks to the media during a press briefing at the White House in Washington on April 15, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The White House came out on April 15 in opposition to any standalone bill to give assistance to Israel in the aftermath of Iran attacking the Jewish state over the weekend.

“We are opposed to a standalone bill that would just work on Israel, as we’ve seen proposed. We would oppose a standalone bill, yes,” said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

“Time is not on anyone’s side here in either case, so they need to move quickly on this,” he added. “And the best way to get that aid into the hands of the [Israel Defense Forces] and into the hands of the Ukrainian solders is to pass that bipartisan bill that the Senate passed.”

The Senate passed a $95 billion bill to give assistance to Israel, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific. The bill would give $14 billion to the Jewish state.

It is yet to be determined what House Speaker Mike Johnson will do about assistance to Israel in the wake of the Iranian attack.

During an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” the speaker was asked if the attack—which Iran said was in retaliation for an Israeli operation that killed Iranian army leaders at an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps headquarters in Syria—would change the House’s plans for funding Israel.

“We’ve understood the urgency of this from the very beginning,” said Mr. Johnson.

Iran’s attack on Israel consisted of more than 120 ballistic missiles and more than 30 cruise missiles aimed at the Jewish state, according to the Israel Defense Forces. This week, the House is scheduled to vote on legislation related to the Iranian threat.

Senate Bill Uncertainty

It is unknown if Mr. Johnson will put forth the Senate bill, which would give $14 billion to Israel. The House passed a bill with that amount for the Jewish state, but it consisted of $14 billion in offsets of the funding for the IRS that was allocated under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

That bill has languished in the Senate, where it hasn’t been brought up for a vote by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has objected to the bill.

Later, Mr. Johnson noted that the House rejected a “clean” funding bill for Israel with a top-line cost of $14 billion. A majority of Democrats opposed the bill after President Joe Biden said he would veto it. It was brought under an expedited process that required a two-thirds majority for passage.

Nonetheless, Mr. Johnson said he plans to make another foray into funding Israel in the wake of Iran’s April 13 attack.

“House Republicans and the Republican Party understand the necessity of standing with Israel,” he said. “We’re going to try again this week. And the details of that package are being put together right now. We’re looking at the options and all these supplemental issues.”

Mr. Johnson was asked about the possibility of providing additional funding to Ukraine in the form of a loan, an idea originally floated by former President Donald Trump and picked up by many in the House Republican conference.

“[President Trump] and I are 100 percent united on these big agenda items,” Mr. Johnson replied.

“When you talk about aid to Ukraine, he’s introduced the loan-lease concept, which is a really important one [that] I think has a lot of consensus as well as these other ideas, the REPO Act, which we’ve discussed, which is seizing the assets of corrupt Russian oligarchs to help pay for this resistance,” he said. “I think these are ideas that ... can get consensus, and that’s what we’ve been working through.

“We‘ll send our package, we’ll put something together, and send it to the Senate, and get these obligations completed,” he added.

GOP Split on Ukraine

There are many uncertainties in the path that Mr. Johnson plans to pursue.

It’s currently unknown what level of support an aid bill will supply or whether it will include aid for Ukraine.

That could cause issues for Mr. Johnson, as he leads a caucus that, while staunchly supportive of Israel, is nearly evenly divided on funding Ukraine.

All of this comes as Mr. Johnson continues to deal with the threat of a motion to vacate—issued by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)—hanging over his head.

It’s unclear whether Mr. Johnson will seek to pass new aid for Israel under normal House rules. That path would likely mean that he could spare only a single vote—far from a certainty as members such as Ms. Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) have in the past expressed opposition to all foreign aid.

Alternatively, Mr. Johnson could seek passage of the new funding under a suspension of the rules, a move that would require a two-thirds majority vote and the support of Democrats to pass.

Democrats blocked the previous Israel funding bill after President Joe Biden signaled his opposition, so it’s also unclear whether this approach would work.

Finally, the House Freedom Caucus said it supports aid to Israel but Ukraine assistance is another matter.

“Congress should provide aid to Israel—and the House has already done so nearly five months ago and paid for it. The Senate must act immediately to take up H.R. 6126, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, to support our ally,” said the hard-line conservative group in a statement.

“Under no circumstances will the House Freedom Caucus abide using the emergency situation in Israel as a bogus justification to ram through Ukraine aid with no offset and no security for our own wide-open borders,” it continued.