On Tuesday, February 6, a bill from the Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson to provide military aid exclusively to Israel did not receive support in the House of Representatives of the US Congress. Most congressmen consider this document a "political stunt" that does not reflect the real state of affairs and has no relation to Israel's right to self-defense.
The bill, introduced by Mike Johnson, contained the issuance of financial aid exclusively to support Israel and American forces in the Middle East region. Johnson considered it a priority that should be separated from other aspects of national security.
The bill was brought to a vote by Rep. Ken Calvert of the Republican Party. Most Democrats, even those who consider themselves supporters of Israel, rejected it as a "political stunt" that does not reflect Israel's right to self-defense.
Calvert assured that his proposal is a "clean bill" that does not contain the less popular national security provisions.
"Claims that this draft law is political are absolutely false. Today we have an opportunity to send a strong signal: The United States stands with Israel. The only ones who make it political are those who oppose it," he said before the vote.
Speaker Johnson said that after lawmakers are "accountable" for Israel, they will "work" on other issues. "We must consider these measures independently of each other. I think they deserve it," he told reporters.
However, on the eve of the vote, dozens of lawmakers, including leaders of the Democratic Party and members of the ultra-conservative faction in the House of Representatives, announced their intention to reject the bill.
Shortly before the vote, House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Leader Catherine Clarke and Democratic House Speaker Pete Aguilar said in a “Dear Colleagues” memorandum that they were ready to support any serious bipartisan effort because of the special relationship between the United States and Israel.
But they noted that the separate law "was not presented with good intentions."
"This is probably an absolutely obvious and cynical attempt by MAGA extremists (Make America Great Again - "Let's make America great again". - ed.) to undermine the possibility of concluding a comprehensive bipartisan funding package aimed at solving America's national security problems in the Middle East, Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific region and the whole world," the memorandum reads.
Problems with US financial aid to Ukraine
On October 20, US President Joe Biden presented to Congress a bill worth $106 billion, which provided for aid not only to Israel, but also to Ukraine, Taiwan, and the countries of the Indo-Pacific region. Of this sum, 61.3 billion dollars were proposed to be allocated to Ukraine, and 14.3 billion to Israel.
However, on November 2, the House of Representatives approved an alternative bill of the newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, which provided for the allocation of military aid in the amount of 17.6 billion dollars exclusively to Israel, excluding Ukraine.
In December, the Senate blocked consideration of this bill due to demands by Republicans to include tough measures to protect the US southern border with Mexico.
After that, Democrats and Republicans began negotiations on a new border deal. President Biden announced his readiness to close the southern border in the event of a migrant crisis and called on lawmakers to pass a corresponding bill.
At the end of January, the Senate and Congress agreed on the text of the agreement on the US-Mexico border. However, Mike Johnson called the draft agreement "stillborn", indicating that the Republican majority in the lower house of Congress may not support it during a vote.
