House Republicans are now planning to move forward with a legislative proposal that would provide security assistance to the Israeli government amid the fallout from extensive violence against Israeli civilians perpetrated by the terror group Hamas in October. The deal, though, breaks with the discussions and negotiations underway for months on also sending aid to Ukraine, imposing new security measures around the southern border, and more.
The White House opposes the Republican proposal, which Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, described as a “clean” bill to fund Israel — meaning a proposal without much added besides the core.
“For months the administration has been working with a bipartisan group of Senators on a national security agreement that secures our border and provides support for the people of Ukraine and Israel,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in prepared remarks. “Just as legislative text is imminent, the House Republicans come up with their latest cynical political maneuver. The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game. We strongly oppose this ploy which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Putin’s aggression, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of them women and children, which the Israelis supported by opening the access route.”
Though the specific text of a deal wasn’t ready, Johnson has already expressed opposition to the idea of the Senate package as it’s been outlined via public discussions including news reports. Notably, the deal was recently set per such reports to include new powers for the federal government to mostly shut down the southern border between ports of entry, meaning established points of entering the United States. The change would respond to struggles in the U.S. government actually meeting the humanitarian needs of individuals showing up, including to seek asylum — which those excluded could presumably still do via entering the U.S. elsewhere.
