Johnson’s Israel proposal runs into stiff Senate opposition

The effort to pass an emergency defense spending package through Congress is turning into a mess.

Senators say that new Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) demand to separate Israel funding from Ukraine and offset the $14.3 billion in Israel aid with cuts to the IRS budget isn’t going anywhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

It’s uncertain whether Johnson can even get his controversial proposal passed through the House, where Republicans hold a slim four-seat majority.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin (D-Md.) declared the House Republican proposal to cut IRS funding to pay for aid to Israel dead on arrival in the Senate.

“It’s a non-starter. It’s a poison pill,” he said.

Like Cardin, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and key Senate GOP defense hawks such as Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) don’t favor splitting up President Biden’s emergency funding request for Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific.

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Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of McConnell’s leadership team, told reporters Monday that it would be “the most prudent move” to keep the two national security priorities tied together.

“I’m open to suggestions but I think it’s important that we do border, Ukraine, Israel, and give Taiwan what they need, also,” he said.

Wicker, however, was more neutral on finding offsets to reduce the impact on the deficit, adding “there’s plenty of room … for offsets” in the Inflation Reduction Act, which President Biden signed into law to boost investment in renewable energy.

Graham said last week: “We got national security issues that are all connected up — I’d like to do it all at once.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with members of the media while arriving for a classified briefing for Senators on Israel and Gaza at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard)

Other GOP senators warn that getting into a food fight with Democrats over offsets is guaranteed to slow down any emergency military aid, leaving Israeli and Ukrainian forces without weapons at a critical time.

“Realistically speaking, it’s going to be challenging,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a member of the Appropriations Committee.

“We all know how hard it is to find offsets of substance. This is real money we’re talking about,” she added. “If you’re looking at trying to offset the entire package, I think that’s going to be a real challenge for that.

“We’re operating with a pretty tight time frame, in order to move something,” she said.

Murkowski warned that if aid to Israel moves without assistance to Ukraine, Ukraine might not get any additional U.S. military aid for the foreseeable future.

“I am very worried that we would not be able to advance additional support for Ukraine in this supplemental [spending package] going forward,” she said. “I think the best approach is one that couples them altogether.

She said the “contours” of the Biden administration’s proposal to bundle aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and money to secure the U.S. southern border into one package is “solid.” She acknowledged, however, “there’s plenty of room” to discuss changing some of the details.

“I think it would be hard for Ukraine to get the political support for a stand-alone Ukraine package,” she added. “Now is not the time to be saying we can only do one thing at once.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) asks a question during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

Another Republican senator who requested anonymity to comment on the House Republican proposal said it has little chance of passing Congress anytime soon.

“I’ve never seen us offset, honestly, normal spending, and I can’t imagine that this place would go out of its way to offset defense spending,” the lawmaker said.

“It will slow down this package substantially,” the senator warned.

Senators say they expect Johnson and his House GOP colleagues to attempt to pass the measure later this week.

McConnell urged Senate GOP colleagues at a lunch meeting last week to keep the Israel and Ukraine money together. He’s getting strong pushback from conservatives such as Sens. JD Vance (R-Ohio), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).

McConnell reiterated his support for the war in Ukraine at an event Monday featuring Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova at the University of Louisville’s McConnell Center.

“Right now, loud voices on both sides of the aisle are suggesting that American leadership isn’t worth the cost. Some say our support for Ukraine comes at the expense of more important priorities, but as I’ve said every time I’ve got the chance, it’s a false choice,” he said. “America is a global superpower with global interests, and enemies of democracy around the world like nothing more than to outlast our resolve to resist Russian aggression.”

He warned that a Russian victory in Ukraine would imperil the security and economy of all of Europe, the United States’s largest trading partner and strategic ally.

And he drew a parallel between Russia aggression in Ukraine and Iran-backed terrorism in Israel, calling them “clear examples that there’s evil in the world.”

On the question of keeping military aid to Israel and Ukraine tied together, McConnell and his Senate GOP allies are more aligned with President Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Schumer, the highest ranking Jewish leader in Congress in American history and one of Israeli’s biggest champions on Capitol Hill, argued Monday that money for Israel must be kept tied to the other national security priorities.

“The way forward is exceptionally clear. We must pass the president’s supplemental request which has funding for Israel, Ukraine, the South Pacific, while providing critical humanitarian aid for Gaza,” he said. “America does not have the luxury of burying our head in the sand or leaving our friends to fend for themselves.”

Senate Republican leaders as well as Democrats are reluctant to cut federal programs to offset the cost of helping Israel. Emergency spending outside the regular appropriations bills traditionally does not count against the annual spending cap.

Senate Democrats warned Monday that finding cuts to pay for an emergency foreign assistance package would make it tougher to pass.

A Senate Democratic aide argued that the House Republican proposal to cut the IRS budget to pay for foreign aid would actually increase the deficit because it would hamper the enforcement of tax compliance.

Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) warned it will be difficult to come up with spending cuts or revenue raisers to cover the cost of military aid to Israel, let alone all of Biden’s proposed $105 billion emergency assistance package.

“It won’t be easy,” he said, warning it could delay the timing of the aid to Israel and Ukraine.

“If you’re talking about life-and-death military funds for the cause in Ukraine or the cause in the Middle East, this notion, ‘We’ll debate it and get back to you later,’ I don’t accept that,” he added.

Durbin, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he couldn’t remember the cost of an emergency spending package being offset with spending cuts.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are scheduled to testify Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Biden’s emergency funding requests.

Al Weaver contributed.  

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