House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Saturday that he would be introducing a stand-alone bill that would offer aid to Israel amid the war in Gaza.
The Louisiana Republican made the announcement in a letter to colleagues while also blasting the Senate for “failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion."
“Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” Johnson wrote in the letter. "During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets. The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.”
The bill would offer no offsetting spending cuts and would provide $17.6 billion in military aid to Israel, according to NBC News.
The legislation is titled the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act and is expected to be voted on next week.
The impending Senate legislation that was criticized by Johnson includes aid to Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific allies, plus the widely discussed but still unseen border security measures, according to The Hill.
As of now it's not clear if the Senate will take up a stand-alone bill.
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