Johnson to Move Stand-Alone Israel Aid Without Offsets

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will bring a new Israel aid bill to the floor without spending cuts or offsets.

The plan, announced in a Saturday letter to his colleagues, is a reversal from Johnson’s earlier position. Last year, in the early days of Johnson’s speakership, the House passed a $14.3 trillion bill to aid to Israel in its war against Hamas.

That bill, which was paid for with an equal reduction in funding for the IRS, has not been brought up by the Senate.

Yet the Senate appears ready to consider a broader aid package this year with tens of million in aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan that includes a still-secret border deal.

By moving Israel aid separately and in a form the Senate has called for, Johnson can act on which proposal enjoys broad support from Republicans before the Senate passes that broader bill with aid for Ukraine’s war against Russia, much less popular inside Johnson’s conference.

The border and foreign aid bill’s prospects in the Senate aren’t certain. Yet Johnson’s letter again makes clear his opposition to that bill.

Draft details of the bill’s immigration components have been attacked as ceding control of the border and providing a pathway for even more migration.

Until that negotiated deal meets its fate, the Senate is unlikely to take up the new House Israel aid bill. Yet Johnson’s actions seem to suggest that regardless what happens to the border and foreign aid bill, the outlook for the eventual passage of some form of additional Israel aid is promising.