House Republican leadership is planning to propose four separate foreign aid bills which will decouple Israel aid from Ukraine aid. Each proposed bill — Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan each get their own, with the fourth focusing on national security priorities — will be voted on separately.
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “It’s a disturbing development.”
Murphy, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who helped negotiate the bipartisan foreign aid bill which passed in the Senate in February, reminds Americans that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-GA) still has that bill “right in front of him.”
The $95 billion bill allocated $60 billion to Ukraine; $14.1 billion to Israel; $9.2 billion for humanitarian aid; and $4.8 billion to Taiwan and Indo-Pacific allies.
The new House strategy to pass four separate national security bills sounds like a recipe for purposeful failure.
Speaker Johnson should just call up the Senate Ukraine/Israel/humanitarian bill for a vote. It would pass. pic.twitter.com/H7Oi9g9LcT
— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) April 16, 2024
Murphy points out that the majority of Johnson’s House members support the bill “and still, he continues to refuse to call it up for a vote. That bill could be on the president’s desk tomorrow, if Speaker Johnson just called for a vote.”
Murphy criticized Johnson’s leadership on the issue: “Every two days, he seems to have a new plan as to how he’s going to avoid doing the right thing…just taking a vote, letting his member decide.”
“The new House strategy to pass four separate national security bills sounds like a recipe for purposeful failure,” Murphy wrote.
Far-right Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who filed a motion to vacate Johnson earlier in the month, do not approve of Johnson’s plan either. She said: “I am firmly against the plan as it stands right now.”
Note: Lawmakers will have 72 hours to examine the bills before they’re asked to vote on them, which could be as early as Friday.