Timeline for House Republican bills on Israel, Ukraine funding still unclear

NEW YORK – The House Republican leadership on Tuesday did not provide a timeline for this week’s legislative agenda, but their messaging was clear: the “world is on fire” – and it is President Joe Biden’s fault.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) opened the party’s Tuesday morning press conference outlining its points of contention with Biden’s handling of Russia, Iran, China, and Afghanistan.

“Under Joe Biden, the world is less safe. Since stepping into the Oval Office, Joe Biden’s weak foreign policy has been defined by a steady stream of disastrous decisions and a world in chaos as a result,” Stefanik said. “His desperate policy of appeasement has left our nation and our allies vulnerable to attack.”

Stefanik said that America’s enemies do not fear recourse because of Biden, and the US needs to return to former president Donald Trump’s “peace through strength” policies which House Republicans proudly support.

“The world is on fire,” House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Mike McCaul (R-TX) said. “And history will judge us by our actions. Are we Chamberlain, or are we Churchill?”

Biden’s global chaos started with Afghanistan, McCaul said, which projected weakness and invited aggression from Russia and China.

“And now, the ayatollah has raised his ugly head with his proxies – his tentacles – and for the first time in history, an unprecedented Iranian strike from Iran and Iraq on Israel soil. How did we get here? By projecting weakness not strength.” McCaul said.

“We need to go back to the maximum pressure campaign. We need to re-designate the Houthi rebels as a foreign terrorist organization,” he said.

McCaul added that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has a plan to address Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan with a fourth legislative package dealing with a loan program for direct government payments.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) echoed his colleagues, saying Iran’s attack against Israel was a result of Biden’s “disturbing pattern of appeasement on the world stage.”

“In February 2021, Joe Biden reversed a Trump-era move that imposed permanent sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile programs. In September of 2023, Joe Biden waived sanctions to give another $6 billion ransom payment to Iran. In November of 2023, Joe Biden handed another $10 billion to Iran despite the repeated attacks against American servicemen overseas,” Emmer said. “And just this month, Joe Biden demanded that Israel back down in its fight against the Iranian-backed Hamas. It’s no wonder Iran did not take Joe Biden’s warning of ‘don’t’ very seriously.”

Emmer said the question remains if House Democrats will let the administration’s “failed foreign policy slow walk us

Three.”

“With the world on fire, this is an incredibly difficult time for our allies around the world,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said. “We don’t choose moments like this, but history will judge us based on how we respond.”

That’s why, this week, the House will deal with several pieces of legislation to stand firmly with Israel to let them know that we have their back and their right to self-defense, Scalise said.

“However they choose to defend themselves from these unwarranted attacks from Iran, that’s their choice. That’s their decision. But we support that decision and we’re going to pass legislation to make that clear,” Scalise added. into World War

Democrats blame ‘pro-putin’ republicans

Meanwhile, the House Democratic leadership is waiting to receive the text of the legislation, withholding official comment or support till then.

On Tuesday, Democratic leaders reiterated their plea for Johnson to bring the Senate-passed national security supplemental bill to the floor which has stalled in the House now for more than two months.

“The Senate bipartisan bill has four components: aid to Israel, aid to Ukraine, humanitarian assistance, and aid to the Indo-Pacific. If Speaker Johnson’s version is missing one of these components, it’s highly unlikely Democrats would support it so we’re waiting to see what the text shows,” Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Rep. Ted Lieu said.

Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. Pete Aguilar said there’s urgency in needing to get the bills passed by the end of the week as the House and Senate are both in recess next week.

Questions and uncertainty remain about legislative processes the Democrats can use to bring the supplemental to a vote, such as a discharge petition.

If Johnson refuses to allow a vote on the $95 billion foreign security aid bill passed by the Senate, its supporters may turn to rarely-used and complicated procedural tools to try to force a vote.

The House “discharge rule,” which is generally the only procedure by which members can secure consideration of a bill without cooperation from majority party House leadership, requires at least 218 signatures, a majority of the House’s members, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Aguilar said that nothing is more important to the “pro-Putin wing” of the House Republican Conference than reelecting Trump.

“The same group that has undermined our ability to support our allies is pushing Russian propaganda on the House floor,” Aguilar said. “It’s time for Speaker Johnson to do the right thing and to put this critical funding for an up or down vote.”

Discharge petitions work, but rarely. The last time was in 2015 when 42 Republicans defied party leaders to join Democrats who favored reauthorizing the then-shuttered Export-Import Bank. In 2002, a discharge petition was successfully used to pass the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which became known as McCain-Feingold.

Democrats are considering another procedure, known as “defeating the previous question,” where a majority of lawmakers can force an immediate vote on a bill that leadership has not brought to the floor.

Every time the House brings a bill to the floor under a rule, such as one limiting the number of amendments, there is a vote on “moving the previous question.” If that is defeated Democrats can amend the rule to bring up any bill.

That procedure would work quickly and requires only a majority of House members voting and present – not the full 218 needed for a discharge petition. But it has rarely been successful and also would require perhaps two dozen Republicans to break with leadership.