The Republican fight over Israel funding, explained

WASHINGTON —  Hamas militants’ Oct. 7 attack prompted lawmakers to issue statements and file resolutions affirming America’s unflinching commitment to Israel.

But talk is cheap. Many lawmakers want to go farther — and send Israel more money.

The battle over the speakership, which began Oct. 3 after eight GOP rebels ousted Kevin McCarthy with the help of Democrats, hamstrung the lower chamber for more than three weeks. The House of Representatives could not vote on bipartisan resolutions expressing the chamber’s sorrow over the attack, much less back bills to send Israel money to bolster its military as it attacks the Gaza Strip.

But now that the speakership fight has ended, newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson has put forth legislation to send Israel more than $14 billion. The only problem? He wants to gut Biden administration domestic initiatives to do it.

Hello, friends. I’m Erin B. Logan, a reporter covering Congress for the L.A. Times. Today, we are going to talk about funding for Israel and the politics of getting a spending bill to President Biden’s desk.

Dead on arrival

The White House has repeatedly called on Congress to approve money to send Israel. Just one week into his speakership, Johnson has moved a bill.

White House officials had hoped to gain Republican support for more money to Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion by tying that funding to new money for Israel, border security and Taiwan.

But Johnson this week introduced Israel-funding legislation that not only leaves out money for Ukraine, border security and Taiwan, but also cuts from the Internal Revenue Service’s budget to pay for it. The service’s budget was increased by the Inflation Reduction Act.

President Biden had said that he would pay for this bipartisan law by modernizing the service so it can more aggressively go after the wealthy to pay their taxes. Earlier this month, the service launched a new initiative to beef up its work to ensure corporations pay taxes.

Johnson’s attempt to claw back that money is a “nonstarter,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

“Playing political games that threaten the source of funding for Israel’s self-defense — now and into the future — would set an unacceptable precedent that calls our commitment to one of our closest allies into question,” she said in a statement. “We cannot afford to jeopardize that commitment as Israel defends itself from the evil unleashed by Hamas.”

Uncoupling Israel funding from funding for Taiwan and Ukraine also seems to be an issue for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who this week in a floor speech said Congress “has an opportunity” to address threats posed to all three.

McConnell has long urged Senate Republicans to stick with Ukraine, even as the issue becomes increasingly unpopular among the base.

Whether Johnson can prevail against McConnell and the White House will be an important test of the new speaker’s political instincts — and his control over his caucus.

The latest from the campaign trail

—Former Vice President Mike Pence is dropping his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, ending his campaign for the White House after struggling to raise money and gain traction in the polls, the Associated Press reported. Pence becomes the first major candidate to leave a race that his former boss-turned-rival, Donald Trump, has been dominating, according to polls of GOP voters.

—For months, Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips called for a Democratic primary challenge to Biden, drawing no public interest from governors, lawmakers and other potential alternatives, the Associated Press reported. The Minnesota congressman finally entered the race himself Friday and his run offers a symbolic challenge to national Democrats trying to project the idea that there is no reason to doubt Biden’s electability.

The view from Washington

—The Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday over whether the 1st Amendment helps or hurts public officials who use their personal Facebook pages to communicate with constituents — and sometimes block their critics, Times writer David G. Savage reported.

—Since it first aired in 2014, TLC’s “90 Day Fiancé” has shown viewers the complexities of long-distance, international romances between U.S. citizens and people from foreign countries, Times writer Andrea Castillo reported. But as the reality TV series has grown in popularity over the last decade, the approval rate for fiancé visas has dropped.

—While consultations took place behind closed doors, Biden and others in his administration began to shift their public rhetoric from scant mention of the Palestinian dead amid unconditional support for Israel to talk of humanitarian mercy for Palestinians and “protecting civilians in combat as best as they can,” as the president put it, Times writer Tracy Wilkinson reported.

The view from California

—Whatever Newsom’s China trip in the last week might achieve on climate change, the financial and economic stakes are just as huge — and in many ways of even more immediate concern for California, Times writers Don Lee and Laurel Rosenhall reported. Whether it’s tourism, education, real estate or high tech, no state has more riding on the future of U.S.-China relations than California.

—A high-level aide to Los Angeles City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez resigned from his post Friday after facing criticism for making Holocaust jokes about the comedian Amy Schumer on social media, Times writer David Zahniser reported.

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