Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will deliver a brand new Israel support invoice to the ground with out spending cuts or offsets.
The plan, introduced in a Saturday letter to his colleagues, is a reversal from Johnson’s earlier place. Final yr, within the early days of Johnson’s speakership, the Home handed a $14.3 trillion invoice to assist to Israel in its battle in opposition to Hamas.
That invoice, which was paid for with an equal discount in funding for the IRS, has not been introduced up by the Senate.
But the Senate seems prepared to think about a broader support package deal this yr with tens of million in support to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan that features a still-secret border deal.
By shifting Israel support individually and in a kind the Senate has referred to as for, Johnson can act on which proposal enjoys broad help from Republicans earlier than the Senate passes that broader invoice with support for Ukraine’s battle in opposition to Russia, a lot much less standard inside Johnson’s convention.
The border and international support invoice’s prospects within the Senate aren’t sure. But Johnson’s letter once more makes clear his opposition to that invoice.
Draft particulars of the invoice’s immigration parts have been attacked as ceding management of the border and offering a pathway for much more migration.
Till that negotiated deal meets its destiny, the Senate is unlikely to take up the brand new Home Israel support invoice. But Johnson’s actions appear to recommend that regardless what occurs to the border and international support invoice, the outlook for the eventual passage of some type of further Israel support is promising.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart Information. Observe him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.