The White House warned on Monday that President Biden would veto a standalone bill backed by House of Representatives Republicans that would provide aid to Israel.
House lawmakers will vote on the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act that would provide $17.6 billion to Israel this week.
Biden to Veto Israel Funding Bill
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 27: US President Joe Biden speaks to a crowd during the South Carolina Democratic Party First in the Nation Celebration and dinner at the state fairgrounds on January 27, 2024 in Columbia, South Carolina. South Carolina holds its Democratic party primary on February 3.
The announcement comes after House Republicans declared on Sunday that they would not support the $118 billion Senate border deal, which includes $14 billion in funding for Israel and $60 million for Ukraine.
On Sunday night, the Republican House leaders said that they would vote against the bipartisan Senate bill and instead vote on a bill providing aid only to Israel.
The bill represented a rightward turn in Senate debates over border measures, but conservatives fiercely opposed it. They denounced the border policy proposal as inadequate, with Donald Trump leading the charge.
"This is a gift to the Democrats. And this sort of is a shifting of the worst border in history onto the shoulders of Republicans," the former president and likely Republican presidential nominee said on Monday. "That's really what they want. They want this for the presidential election so they can now blame the Republicans for the worst border in history."
Some Senate Republicans who have backed funding to Ukraine and the contours of the border policy changes even expressed doubts about their support for the package on Monday. A private Republican meeting was set in the evening to debate it.
However, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer moved toward a critical test vote on Wednesday. Schumer and McConnell have stressed for months the urgency of approving tens of billions of dollars for Ukraine's fight.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday that Biden's vow to veto the measure is a betrayal of their great ally and friend Israel in their time of desperate need.
He said that Israel was at war and they were fighting for their existence, and the idea that Biden would suggest that he would not send a clean funding measure to assist them is just outrageous.
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EU Approves $50B Ukraine Funding Deal
On Thursday, the European Union reached a funding agreement for Ukraine worth over $50 billion in a crucial summit at a turning point in the conflict.
The funds had been stalled since December following a veto of the agreement at a prior summit by Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Failure to reach a deal would have been a severe blow to the country, and outgunned forces are struggling on the battlefield amid a renewed Russian assault.
The US has stopped providing military assistance to Ukraine due to an ongoing dispute in Washington over future funding for Kyiv.
According to an official document released by the European Union Council, the 27 member states have agreed to transfer $54 billion to Ukraine between 2024 and 2027.
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