The Dead on Arrival Bill Included a Partisan Poison Pill to Cut Federal Spending –

By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a crass attempt to appear to side with Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza the new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson brought up a bill which included $14.3 billion in military aid for Israel, but included nothing for Ukraine and tied the aid to federal spending cuts that are unacceptable to the Senate and the President.

According to deadline reporting from the New York Times, the bill is so offensive to Democrats who control the Senate and President Joe Biden in the White House that the Senate has no intention of even taking up the bill. Biden vowed to veto it.

The House Republicans, still under the spell of Donald Trump, the former president, approved the measure in a party line vote of 226 to 196.

This alienated Democrats because it would slash a tax enforcement initiative at the Internal Revenue Service, part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed in bipartisan fashion and a key part of President Biden’s domestic agenda.

Only a dozen Democrats voted in favor of the bill, and some Republicans opposed it, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia. They argued that American taxpayer money should be spent on Americans.

“Soaring inflation and high interest rates are due to overspending,” Massie said on social media. “We can’t afford more foreign aid. I voted against the billions for Ukraine, and I am voting against $14+ billion of foreign aid for Israel tonight.”

Greene and her press account on Twitter had no comments about the legislation, but she claimed to have “a bold plan to ELIMINATE our country’s national debt.”

“We simply put all tax revenue into the stock market, and then support the companies we invest in with favorable legislation. I don’t know why no one’s thought of this before,” Greene said, as if risking all federal tax money in a volatile stock market was somehow a good idea, not to mention corrupt.

In what she calls her “100% authentic, legitimate, and totally definitely not fake Press Office for Georgia’s 14th congressional district,” Greene has a pinned tweet that says: “Representative Greene tonight underscored her absolute loyalty to President Trump by declaring: Even though I have first hand evidence that would land him in jail for life, I will absolutely never betray him. THAT’S how loyal I am.”

Representative Greene tonight underscored her absolute loyalty to President Trump by declaring: "Even though I have first hand evidence that would land him in jail for life, I will absolutely never betray him." THAT'S how loyal I am."

— Marjorie Taylor Greene Press Office (@MajoriePress) October 24, 2023

The Senate plans to bring up its own bill providing aid for Israel with money to help Ukraine in its war with Russia. President Biden has requested $105 billion, and White House officials on Tuesday blasted the House bill for containing “partisan poison pill offsets.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a speech ahead of the House vote on Thursday that the Senate would not take up the House-passed proposal at all, and would instead craft its own bipartisan bill containing aid for Israel and Ukraine, which would also include humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“It still mystifies me that when the world is in crisis and we need to help Israel respond to Hamas, the GOP thought it was a good idea to tie Israel aid to a hard-right proposal that will raise the deficit and is totally, totally partisan,” Schumer said.

The dispute could last for weeks, the Times reports, potentially delaying any aid to Israel or Ukraine indefinitely.

So far the Republicans under the new speaker have said nothing about a bill to fund the government. The current continuing resolution expires Nov. 17, the Friday before the Thanksgiving weekend.

Johnson argued that his bill “provides Israel with the aid it needs to defend itself, free its hostages and eradicate Hamas, which is a mission that must be accomplished.”

But he said he must also “ensure responsible spending and reduce the size of the federal government.”

His bill posed a dilemma for many pro-Israel Democrats, who were eager to support the Jewish state at a time of crisis, but were reluctant to embrace a bill that omits help for Ukraine and humanitarian aid and takes aim at their domestic policy priorities.

Leading Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, made the case privately on Thursday for Democrats to oppose the bill, as did several top administration officials.

Lois Frankel of Florida, one of the 12 Democrats who supported the bill, said in a statement following the vote that she wanted to “send an unequivocal message to the world that we stand with Israel.”

“The United States has a moral duty and national security urgency to aid Israel in defending herself,” Frankel said. “Make no mistake, Hamas terrorists and others in the region are out to destroy Israel and kill all Jews.”

But many pro-Israel Democrats opposed the legislation, saying it was unacceptable for Congress to put such conditions on emergency aid for an important ally.

“In my worst nightmares, I never thought I would be asked to vote for a bill cynically conditioning aid to Israel on ceding to the partisan demands of one party,” said Brad Schneider of Illinois. “I also never thought that a day would come that I would be asked to consider voting against an aid package for Israel, our most important ally in the Middle East, and maybe in the world.”

But he said he could not back the Republican-written bill, calling it “terribly flawed, weak and dangerous.”

Most of the money in the Republican bill would go to helping Israel replenish and bulk up its weapons systems, including $4 billion for the Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems. It also includes $200 million for the protection of U.S. personnel and evacuation of U.S. citizens. It leaves out humanitarian aid for Gaza, which President Biden has requested and many Democrats regard as critical.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that the spending cuts laid out in the bill would actually increase the deficit by $12.5 billion over the next decade. Cutting back on IRS enforcement would reduce the collection of taxes.

The Times reported that Johnson appeared to have tailored the legislation to keep his conference together, which is deeply divided over funding foreign wars.

A stand-alone bill sending aid to Israel without any spending cuts could potentially have passed. But the inclusion of partisan spending cuts in the measure infuriated many Democrats.

Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said the bill “failed Israel.”

“What the House Republicans have done is unprecedented and will mean any aid to Israel will be delayed,” DeLauro said. “This bill tells our allies that should they find themselves in an existential war for their democracy and their freedom, we will not put aside our partisan wars.”

The legislation leaves Johnson out of step with other congressional leaders. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on Tuesday that he and Schumer were “conceptually” on the same page when it came to linking aid for Ukraine, Israel, the southern U.S. border and Taiwan.

“We view all of these problems as connected,” McConnell said.

Johnson said on Thursday that he intended to attach legislation to deal with immigration at the southern border with aid for Ukraine, a pairing that acknowledges how toxic stand-alone funding for Kyiv has become among Republicans under the spell of Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin.

“It’s just a matter of principle that, if we’re going to take care of a border in Ukraine, we need to take care of America’s border as well,” he said.

According to Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, House Republicans “set a dangerous precedent, making aid to our ally Israel conditional on helping billionaires cheat on their taxes.”

“This irresponsible, partisan bill abandons the people of Ukraine and innocent Palestinian civilians in need of humanitarian aid, undermines our national security, and only delays our ability to support Israel’s defense against Hamas,” she said in a statement issued as an email blast to supporters. “The conflict in the Middle East is intensifying. Hate against the Jewish and Muslim communities is on the rise. This is no time for Republican political games. The world is watching and waiting for us to act.”

She said it was imperative that Congress pass a bipartisan supplemental funding package that reflects President Biden’s request to help our allies defend themselves, provide life-saving humanitarian assistance, and bolster U.S. national security.

“We urge House Republicans to work with us on advancing a serious proposal that meets this critical moment,” she said, probably not holding her breath that would happen.

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