House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is hitting back at the Democrat-controlled Senate for criticizing the House GOP\u2019s standalone bill to aid Israel.<\/p>\n
Republican leaders released the text of the emergency aid legislation Monday, which includes just over $14 billion for Israel in its war against terror group Hamas. That money would be offset by siphoning funds from President Biden\u2019s Inflation Reduction Act \u2013 specifically, dollars allocated toward the IRS.<\/p>\n
\u2018If you ask people at the Pentagon, under oath or in a moment of truth, they will tell you the greatest threat to our national security is our own debt,\u2019 Johnson told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u2018It is in our national interest to support our great ally and friend Israel in their time of need. But we also have to keep our focus on our own financial stability. And so those things must happen simultaneously.\u2019<\/p>\n
The bill separates Israel aid from Biden\u2019s original request for $106 billion in supplemental aid, which also includes money for Ukraine and the southern border.<\/p>\n
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., criticized Johnson\u2019s bill on the Senate floor Tuesday. Schumer called the package \u2018woefully inadequate\u2019 and denounced its offset provisions as \u2018poison pills that increase the deficit and help wealthy tax cheats avoid paying their fair share.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018I would refer Sen. Schumer and anyone else who\u2019s a critic of this to the Treasury report that came out this week that indicates that we\u2019re going to have to borrow $1.6 trillion for the next six months to get the government in operation,\u2019 Johnson responded in an interview Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u2018To suggest that it is a poison pill to have a pay-for in [$14.3 billion] overseas, is, I\u2019m sorry, I just think that\u2019s something that does not line up with reality. And I think the American people largely agree with us. And so I\u2019m ready to have that debate.\u2019<\/p>\n
Johnson said the House would vote on the Israel aid bill Thursday or Friday.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not immediately clear if it will get past the Senate and White House. Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid Johnson a visit Tuesday after defending Biden\u2019s supplemental request in a meeting earlier that day.<\/p>\n
\u2018I explained to him the reality of the House Republican majority, that it\u2019s important to our members that these issues be addressed separately,\u2019 Johnson said without going into detail on the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u2018It does not mean that there\u2019s not a resolve here to handle all of our obligations, but we want to do it in a very deliberate manner that is financially responsible,\u2019 he added. \u2018And I don\u2019t think that\u2019s much to ask. And, in fact, I think we owe that as a duty to the people we represent.\u2019<\/p>\n