The House of Representatives passed legislation to send $14.3 billion in emergency aid to Israel, cutting $14.3 billion from IRS funding.
However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said the upper chamber will not take the bill up.
The measure passed 226 to 196, a shift from typical strongly bipartisan congressional support for Israel.
Twelve Democrats voted with 214 Republicans for the bill, with two Republicans joining 194 Democrats in objecting.
Reuters reported: The bill’s introduction, as lawmakers rushed to respond to the attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas militants, was the first major legislative action under new Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
But because it combined aid for Israel with a cut to the Internal Revenue Service and left out aid for Ukraine, President Joe Biden promised a veto, and Senator Chuck Schumer, majority leader of the Democratic-controlled Senate, said he would not bring it up for a vote.
The House bill would provide $4 billion for Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling missile defense systems.
Another $3.5 billion would be provided for advanced weapons systems and other defense services.
A further $1 billion would be provided to bolster artillery and critical munitions productions, and $1.2 billion for the Iron Beam for short-range rocket defense.
Finally, another $4.4 billion would be sent to Israel “to replenish defense articles and defense services.”
The news comes just a week after Palestinian terror group Hamas launched a deadly attack on Israel, slaughtering 1,400 Israelis.
Rep Gary Palmer (R-AL) said in a statement to Breitbart News ahead of the vote:
“When Biden Democrats show weakness in foreign policy stances, our friends around the world suffer.”
“Israel has every right to defend itself from the brutal attacks we have been witnessing over the past month,” he added.
“With this piece of legislation, we are helping an ally in need while also cutting funding from Joe Biden’s weaponized IRS.”
“These funds are better used supporting Israel than being used by IRS agents to audit middle-class Americans.”
While House Republicans applauded the bill’s advancement for emergency aid for Israel, Schumer and President Joe Biden signaled their opposition to the bill.
“Let me be clear: The Senate will not take up the House GOP’s deeply flawed proposal,” Schumer wrote in a tweet hours before the vote Thursday.
“Instead, we will work on our own bipartisan emergency aid package that includes funding for aid to Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian aid including for Gaza, and competition with the Chinese Government,” Schumer said.
Let me be clear: The Senate will not take up the House GOP's deeply flawed proposal
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 2, 2023
Instead we will work on our own bipartisan emergency aid package that includes funding for aid to Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian aid including for Gaza, and competition with the Chinese Government
Meanwhile, the Biden administration threatened to veto the bill if it made it to Biden’s desk.
“If the President were presented with this bill, he would veto it,” the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote in a release.
