Biden would veto standalone Israel aid bill, administration says

President Biden would veto a standalone House bill that would provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, if it reaches his desk, the Office of Management and Budget announced late Monday. 

The veto threat comes after the administration and many in Congress worked for months on a larger national security supplemental funding bill that would provide support not just to Israel, but to Ukraine and make changes to border security. Republicans in the House intend to move forward this week with a vote on the standalone Israel aid bill, despite the Senate’s work on the larger supplemental aid agreement. 

“Instead of working in good faith to address the most pressing national security challenges, this bill is another cynical political maneuver,” OMB said in a statement of administration policy. “The security of Israel should be sacred, not a political game … The administration strongly encourages both chambers of the Congress to reject this political ploy and instead quickly send the bipartisan Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act to the president’s desk.”

House Republicans have been at odds for months with Democrats and the White House before over separating aid to Israel from other national security interests. On Saturday, House Speaker Mike Johnson told his colleagues he wants a new Israel aid package to be ready in short order. 

“We will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package,” Johnson said in the letter. 

But Johnson’s approach won’t be viewed favorably in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday took the first steps to move forward with the emergency national security supplemental package. 

“This emergency national security supplemental is long, tireless months in the making,” Schumer wrote on “X,” formerly known as Twitter. “From senators to staff to the Biden admin, everyone persisted and persisted. I spoke with the negotiators hundreds of times. Now, it’s time to pass this bill and do the right thing for America.”