House Republicans are taking aim at President Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war this week, after the administration paused shipment of some bombs to Israel and warned that the U.S. will cut off more offensive weapons to Jerusalem if its forces launch an invasion into Rafah.
Republicans in both chambers have sharply criticized the administration’s latest moves, accusing the president of abandoning the U.S.’s closest ally amid its war against Hamas as he faces pressure from progressive lawmakers and voters.
House GOP lawmakers, however, are poised to put those frustrations into action this week, voting on a bill that condemns the Biden administration’s decision to pause arms transfers to Israel and calls for the “expeditious delivery” of offensive weapons to Jerusalem.
“It is not President Biden’s job to dictate to Israel how they should go about defending their right to exist and deterring violence against their people,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) wrote in his “Floor Lookout” Sunday evening. “House Republicans stand unequivocally with Israel in its war against terrorists and those that threaten its freedom.”
Also this week, the House is slated to vote on a bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for five years as lawmakers stare down a Friday deadline. Additionally, the lower chamber will consider several law enforcement-related bills to honor National Police Week.
Across the Capitol, Senators are scheduled to vote on a number of nominations.
GOP goes on offensive over Israel weapons hold
House Republicans are looking to go on offense this week after the Biden administration made a pair of controversial moves regarding Israel’s war against Hamas, an effort that will put a spotlight on the president’s handling of the conflict in the Middle East.
Biden has already paused shipment of some bombs to Israel, and he is now threatening to cut off more offensive weapons to Jerusalem if the country’s forces launch an invasion of Rafah — two postures that are prompting fierce howls from Republicans.
In response, the House this week is slated to vote on a bill — dubbed the Israel Security Assistance Support Act — that urges the “expeditious delivery” of defense articles and services to Israel, condemns the Biden administration’s decision to pause shipments to Israel and reaffirms Israel’s right to self-defense.
It also calls for funds for the secretaries of Defense, State and the National Security Council to be withheld until defense articles are delivered to Israel.
“Unlike the Administration, House Appropriators will not waver in our ironclad support for Israel,” a group of top GOP appropriators — including Rep. Ken Calvert (Calif.), the bill’s sponsor — wrote in a statement over the weekend. “Any actions to withhold resources impede our national and global security and send a dangerous signal that the U.S. cannot be counted on as a partner. We demand the Administration fulfill our commitment to our great ally in the Middle East, especially so in this serious time of need.”
House Republicans have aimed their fire directly at Biden in the wake of the administration’s moves regarding the Israel-Hamas war. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) last week suggested that the president was having a “senior moment” when he announced, during an interview with CNN, the U.S. would stop sending offensive weapons to Israel if its forces invade Rafah, and Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) filed an article of impeachment against Biden last week after he issued his warning.
This week’s vote on the Israel-related bill has the potential to split Democrats, a familiar dynamic in the House as lawmakers have voted on a number of measures related to the conflict since Oct. 7.
Some Democrats, particularly progressives, have lauded Biden’s threat to cut off weapons shipments to Israel, describing it as the right move amid a growing number of humanitarian deaths in the Gaza strip. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in a post on the social platform X called Biden’s announcement “responsible” and said the position “makes the world safer and our values clear.” She is all but certain to oppose the bill.
A group of 26 House Democrats, however, penned a letter to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan last week that said they were “deeply concerned” about the message the administration was sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies by holding back some weapons shipments, a sign that some Democrats may support the GOP-led resolution.
“With democracy under assault around the world, we cannot undermine our ally Israel, especially in her greatest hour of need. America’s commitments must always be ironclad,” the letter reads.
House to consider FAA reauthorization
The House this week will vote on a bill to reauthorize the FAA for five years, the final must-pass priority on Congress’s legislative to-do list until the fall. Lawmakers are staring down a Friday deadline.
House consideration of the measure comes after the Senate last week approved the reauthorization bill in an overwhelming 88-4 vote, which marked the end of a long-winded road toward extending the agency’s authority.
Senators in both parties requested amendment votes on some unrelated priorities since the FAA bill is the last must-pass measure that will move through Congress until the fall. Leadership, however, did not stage those votes out of concern that amendments could derail the legislation’s path forward.
There was also the battle brewing over language in the bill that adds five additional slots, or 10 round-trip flights, at Reagan Washington National Airport, which was strongly opposed by senators from Maryland and Virginia. Those senators wanted a vote on an amendment that would strip the provision from the bill, which was not held. The four senators ultimately voted against the bill.
Those same frustrations are likely to crop up this week in the House, where lawmakers representing districts near Washington have also raised concerns about the additional National Airport flights.
The House in July voted down an amendment that would have added seven daily round-trip flights at National Airport, but the compromise reauthorization bill released last month included the additional flights.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) criticized the Senate — including Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), the top Republican on the Commerce Committee — for not holding a vote on an amendment to remove the additional National Airport flights from the reauthorization bill.
“Ted Cruz was so eager to add traffic on the busiest runway in America, despite a recent near miss at [National Airport] and FAA warnings about delays and cancellations, that he blocked an amendment to require safety approval from the Department of Transportation. This is just awful,” he wrote on X.
Both chambers last week approved a short-term reauthorization bill that extended the deadline from May 10 to Friday giving the House time to move the legislation through the chamber and allowing lawmakers to avoid a lapse in authority.
House honors National Police Week
The House this week is slated to vote on a number of bills to honor National Police Week, which began Sunday.
House GOP leadership has teed up votes on legislation that would require that undocumented immigrants who assault law enforcement officers are quickly arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before being removed from the U.S.; a bill that would mandate the attorney general to provide a report on the impact the situation at the border is having on all levels of law enforcement; and another measure that would require the attorney general to write up a report on violent attacks against law enforcement officers.
This week’s schedule also features a resolution that would condemn calls to defund the police, a veiled jab at the rallying cry embraced by some progressive lawmakers. It would also express condolences and appreciation for law enforcement officers who are killed in the line of duty.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) Tuesday evening will host a prayer vigil on the House steps honoring law enforcement officers who were killed in the line of duty. Families of fallen officers and coalition leaders are slated to attend. The Speaker will also host a flag laying ceremony at the Capitol.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) announced Sunday night that he lit his office in the Capitol blue to honor National Police Week.
“We’re kicking off National Police Week by lighting my Capitol office blue in honor of our nation’s brave law enforcement officers. The @HouseGOP will ALWAYS back the blue,” he wrote on X.
Senate to hold nomination votes
The Senate this week is scheduled to churn through a number of nomination votes.
On Tuesday, the chamber is slated to vote on a motion to invoke cloture on Courtney Diesel O’Donnell’s nomination to be United States permanent representative to the United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, which comes with the rank of ambassador.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has also filed cloture on Sanket Jayshukh Bulsara to be United States district judge for the Eastern District of New York, and Seth Robert Aframe to be United States circuit judge for the First Circuit.
Senators this week are also expected to keep up the pressure on leadership to stage votes on more bipartisan bills in the coming months.
Some members pushed for assurances for more bipartisan bills last week, as the chamber was considering legislation to reauthorize the FAA, which sparked questions about a potential lapse for the agency.
That chatter could reemerge this week as senators return to Washington.
“This one of the last major legislative vehicles that’s going to move this spring so there’s a lot of discussion about different people’s priorities,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), specifically pointing to bills to help the online safety of children.
“I think there’s a lot of different avenues for that to happen,” he added. “There’s a lot of discussions happening about how we make sure we carve out some time soon to have a debate on children and social media.”
Al Weaver contributed.