White House Warns Biden Would Veto House GOP Standalone Israel Funding Bill

The White House on Tuesday warned that President Joe Biden would veto a bill for standalone Israel aid that House Republicans are gearing up to introduce.

The push for a standalone aid measure is being headed by newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that the bill “fails to meet the urgency of the moment by deepening our divides and severely eroding historic bipartisan support for Israel’s security.”

Johnson's bill is a $14 billion Israel aid package, which he says has a more urgent need than the IRS agent funding from which they would draw.

By offsetting government budgets in order to provide emergency aid, the OMB says it could create a "dangerous precedent by conditioning assistance for Israel, further politicizing our support and treating one ally differently from others. This bill is bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security.”

However, Senate Democrats are arguing that the bill would end up costing the government and Senate Republicans have also indicated they favor a joint aid package that includes funds for Ukraine and border security.

“The House GOP bill is woefully inadequate and has the hard right’s fingerprints all over it,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said of the bill. “It makes aid for Israel, who has just faced the worst terrorist attack in its history, contingent on poison pills that reward rich tax cheats.” 

Biden has proposed a joint aid package for both the war-torn countries of Ukraine and Israel totaling $106 billion with some assistance also being divvying out to Taiwan and to bolster border security in the U.S.

Speaker Johnson and House Republicans want a separate aid package for Ukraine.