OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:58 PM – Thursday, November 2, 2023
While asserting that President Joe Biden would veto the measure, the White House criticized an Israel standalone bill proposed by House Republicans, claiming that it would be “bad for Israel” and U.S. national security.
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On Tuesday, the announcement was made, stating that the $14.3 billion measure would reportedly decouple the 80-year-old president’s request for emergency financing, which includes billions for Ukraine.
In a statement of administration policy on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2024, the Office of Management and Budget said that “this bill is bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security.”
Biden’s $106 billion request for humanitarian help for Palestinian civilians would also be stripped by the budget package, which would be partially funded by reductions in Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revenue allotted under the president’s Inflation Reduction Act.
“Rather than putting forward a package that strengthens American national security in a bipartisan way, the bill fails to meet the urgency of the moment by deepening our divides and severely eroding historic bipartisan support of Israel’s security,” the OMB memo said. “It inserts partisanship into support for Israel, making our ally a pawn in our politics, at a moment we must stand together.”
The budget office claims that rejecting Biden’s request for $9 billion, which is “intended for humanitarian relief operations in Gaza, Israel, and the Ukraine,” would be a “grave mistake” and that it is a “moral imperative.”
“Humanitarian aid is critically needed to alleviate the suffering of civilians in Gaza, but it is also crucial support for innocent Ukrainians facing the brutality of Putin’s war,” the statement reads, arguing that “conflict and extremism will be much more likely to spread” without humanitarian aid, which “will only benefit Hamas and other malign actors.”
The OMB also expressed disapproval of the IRS cuts that House Republicans intend to link to financing for IDF weaponry and the Jewish state’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
“The egregiousness of this particular offset is it adds to the deficit and would help some wealthy individuals and large corporations cheat on their taxes,” the memo continued.
After being unveiled earlier this month, Biden’s $106 billion plan calls for $61.4 billion to be sent to Ukraine, $14.3 billion to Israel, $14 billion to be used for immigration enforcement, and $16.55 billion to be used for other issues, such as help for Taiwan.
Recently elected House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is now facing a dubious GOP conference on more assistance for Kyiv. He has openly urged for the Ukraine and Israel components to be “bifurcated.”
Johnson also contended that Congress must first authorize more stringent supervision before approving aid to Ukraine.
“The administration will continue to engage with both chambers of the Congress in a bipartisan manner to secure an agreement on the critical national security package transmitted to Congress a few weeks ago,” according to the OMB. “If the President were presented with this bill, he would veto it,” the memo said in conclusion.
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