May14

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

House Republicans Tee Up Israel Bomb Bill

Tomorrow, House Republicans are going to move forward with their bill allegedly intended to force Joe Biden to deploy military aid to Israel, and to deprive him of the ability to withhold the bombs that might end up being used against civilians in Rafah. In theory, if the White House does not comply within 15 days, various bits of funding would be frozen, including the salaries of key Department of Defense officials.

This is not a serious attempt to govern. Indeed, let us count the ways:

• If House Republicans were actually concerned about getting arms to Israel, they would be negotiating with Biden on ways to address his concerns. They are not doing so.
  
  
• The White House opposes the bill and has said it will be vetoed if it reaches Biden's desk. There are not enough votes in the Senate for a veto override. In fact, there is no indication that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) will even bring the bill up for a vote in his chamber. He's not been a part of the conversation, either.
  
  
• The bill is of dubious legality. It may not be OK to freeze individual salaries, since there are laws requiring people to be paid. Similarly, dictating exactly how Biden implements military spending bills may infringe on his powers as Commander-in-Chief. Certainly, there's enough there that the administration could tie things up for months and months in federal court.
  
  
• Biden could also engage in malicious compliance, if he really wanted. Recall, the original bill speaks entirely of defensive weapons. So, he could announce that Israel will be sent $12.5 billion in materiel needed for their Iron Dome defenses, and... well, that's all the money! Sorry, Benjamin! Alternatively, most of the spending is done by signing contracts with American contractors, and THEN sending their product to Israel. So, Biden could announce that Raytheon has been awarded a contract to produce $10 billion in arms for Israel, deliverable on Jan. 1, 2027.

In short, this isn't going anywhere. It's just another attempt by the Republicans to divide the Democrats, and to highlight that Joe Biden isn't all-in on allowing Israel to do whatever it wants.

It is possible it could backfire on the GOP, of course, by highlighting which is the party of blank checks and which one maybe isn't. Also, surely someone will ask this question, at some point, of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) or some other high-profile Republican: "If it's so important for Israel to receive these arms in a prompt manner, how come House Republicans failed to move an Israel funding bill for many months? Because last I checked, many months is rather more than 15 days." (Z)