Joe Biden Admin Vows President Would Veto Standalone Israel Aid Bill

President Joe Biden’s administration vows that he would veto a standalone bill proposed by Republicans that would provide billions of dollars in aid to Israel.

The White House said it “strongly opposes” the GOP measure to provide aid only to Israel, referring to the bill as a “political ploy,” according to a statement sent to Newsweek on Monday by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Israel bill, H.R. 7217, was introduced after conservative lawmakers voiced opposition to a broader bipartisan Senate bill that addressed border security as well as allocated aid to other U.S. allies.

“Instead of working in good faith to address the most pressing national security challenges, this bill is another cynical political maneuver,” OMB said.

Multiple Republican lawmakers have criticized a $118 billion border deal unveiled Sunday night following months of negotiations between Biden and congressional leaders as they seek to grapple with an uptick in migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd on January 27, 2024, in Columbia, South Carolina. The Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that the president would veto a standalone bill…

Sean Rayford/Getty

The bipartisan measure allocated $20 billion for immigration enforcement as well as increased Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention capacity from 34,000 to 50,0000 in an effort to address key concerns faced at the southern border. The Senate bill also included $14 billion in aid to Israel, $60 billion for Ukraine, $4.83 billion to Indo-Pacific nations and $10 billion in humanitarian funding for Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank.

While congressional negotiators aimed to strike a balance between strengthening the border favored by Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, and immigration policy reform supported by Democrats, who control the Senate, the bill was met with swift condemnation from conservatives.

House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed the measure as “worse than we expected” and said it is “dead on arrival” in the lower chamber where Republicans said they planned to reject the Senate measure and instead vote on a bill providing aid only to Israel.

Representative Ken Calvert, a California Republican and chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, released the text of H.R. 7217, called the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act. The GOP-backed measure aims to provide “$17.6 billion in military assistance for Israel, as well as important funding for U.S. Forces in the region,” the congressman said in a statement on Saturday.

The Biden administration blasted Calvert’s measure in the statement on Monday, accusing Republicans of using aid for Israel as a “political game.”

“The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game,” OMB said. “The Administration strongly opposes this ploy which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression, fails to support the security of American synagogues, mosques, and vulnerable places of worship, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.”

OMB called on both chambers of Congress to reject the “political ploy” and support the Senate border bill.

“If the President were presented with H.R. 7217, he would veto it,” OMB wrote.

In a statement sent to Newsweek on Monday night, Johnson slammed the president’s “threat” to veto the aid package for Israel.

“The President’s veto threat is an act of betrayal,” Johnson said. “Israel is at war, fighting for its very right to exist, while our brave men and women in uniform are in harm’s way on his orders to deter Iran. In threatening to veto aid to Israel and to our military forces, President Biden is abandoning our ally in its time of greatest need. I urge friends of Israel and opponents of Iran to call the President’s bluff and pass this clean aid package.”