House Speaker Mike Johnson is already clashing with Democrats and his Republican counterpart in the Senate, putting the brakes on Ukraine war aid and offsetting Israel aid with spending cuts.
The feud over the war aid quickly showed how the new speaker is navigating divisions among Republicans and negotiating hard with Democrats.
House Republicans are surging ahead this week with a $14.3 billion supplemental aid bill for Israel to combat Hamas terrorists. It excludes more Ukraine funding, drawing a sharp contrast to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who, like President Biden, wants the two paired together.
“Loud voices on both sides of the aisle are suggesting that American leadership isn’t worth the cost. Some say our support for Ukraine comes at the expense of more important priorities,” Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican, said Monday during an event in his home state featuring Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova. “But as I’ve said every time I get the chance, this is a false choice.”
Mr. McConnell, Senate Democrats and Mr. Biden are largely on the same page on aid for Ukraine and Israel.
The president requested a $106 billion foreign aid package with $61 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel, $7.4 billion for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region, more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid and $14 billion to help deal with illegal immigrants crossing the southern border.
SEE ALSO: Biden’s Cabinet secretaries push a divided Congress to send aid to Israel and Ukraine
Senate Democrats and the White House quickly rejected Mr. Johnson’s Israel proposal as a “non-starter” because it also offset the $14.3 billion price tag by clawing back IRS funding that was boosted by $80 billion under the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said America “does not have the luxury of burying our head in the sand or leaving our friends to fend for themselves.”
The proposal is “not for me, or anybody I know,” said Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow, the chamber’s third-ranking Democratic leader.
“I think it would be totally irresponsible for our own security, as well as Ukraine, as well as a coalition of democracies around the world,” she said.
The Treasury Department and nonpartisan budget hawk group the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget argued that slashing IRS funding meant to recoup money from tax cheats would ultimately increase the deficit.
“Threatening to undermine American national security unless House Republicans can help the wealthy and big corporations cheat on their taxes — which would increase the deficit — is the definition of backward,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III, an architect of the Inflation Reduction Act, was an outlier among Democrats.
He said he didn’t have a problem with “legitimate” IRS cuts, but he also said his preference would be to include Ukraine funding.
Senate Democrats need buy-in from at least nine Republicans for any legislation to clear the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
Several Senate Republicans suggested Mr. McConnell was on his own island in the GOP conference when it comes to the war aid issue.
“Mitch has got a conference that’s not quite where Mitch is,” said North Dakota GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer. “You got to start somewhere. You can’t take anything off the table.”
Sen. J.D. Vance, Ohio Republican, said any aid for separate foreign conflicts should be decoupled and that Mr. Johnson is taking the “right approach.” He also urged Republicans to play it smart to win tougher border policies.
“We have to be good at politics and not bad at politics. When Democrats see something that Republicans want, they negotiate over it. That’s the way this game works,” Mr. Vance said. “If we’re going to have some grand bargain, shouldn’t it actually come along with real border security, not the fig leaf that Joe Biden has offered?”
Meanwhile, Mr. Johnson is facing some rebellion in his narrow majority that jeopardizes passage of the aid for Israel.
GOP Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia warn they’ll oppose any foreign assistance to countries because of the staggering U.S. debt. They want steep domestic spending cuts.
“Cut out the middleman!” Mr. Massie posted on social media. “Let these other countries borrow the money they need. Instead of having the U.S.A. borrow money with the perpetual labor of hard-working Americans as collateral for the debt incurred for foreign aid.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.