WASHINGTON — After Iran’s attack on Israel Saturday, House Republican leaders scrapped their plans for this week to instead focus on legislation related to the volatile situation in the Middle East and rushed three bills to the floor for a vote Monday.
None of them would provide Israel, a longtime US ally, with military assistance.
The bill that would do that — a bipartisan foreign aid package passed by the Senate in February that contains $14.1 billion for Israel — remains stalled amid strong opposition from some House Republicans to the inclusion of military aid for Ukraine. But Iran’s drone and missile strike has intensified pressure on House Republican leaders to allow a vote on the $95 billion legislation to quickly get money to Israel — including about $5.2 billion for their air defenses, which thwarted the attack.
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“The Republicans have been playing politics with our national security and the national security of our allies for a long time now,” said Representative Seth Moulton, a Salem Democrat, citing the imperative to get US military assistance not only to Israel but to Ukraine for its war against Russia. “This should have been done months ago.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, said over the weekend that House Republicans “understand the necessity of standing with Israel.” But he announced Monday night that he would not take up the Senate legislation. Instead, he planned to break it into four bills, including separate ones for Israel and Ukraine aid. Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has threatened to trigger a vote to oust Johnson from the job if he brings up the Senate bill, which appears to have enough bipartisan support to pass the House despite concerns on the right and left.
“It really was the will of my colleagues to vote on these measures independently and not have them all sandwiched together as the Senate had done,” Johnson said after meeting with House Republicans.
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Senate Democrats have said they would not support a standalone Israel aid bill. On Monday, White House spokesman John Kirby said the administration also opposes a standalone Israel aid bill. He called on the House to “urgently pass” the $95 billion Senate bill, saying it was “the fastest and surest way to get Israel the aid it needs.”
Since Iran’s attacks, congressional Democrats also have ramped up the pressure on House Republicans. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that “the House must rush to Israel’s aid as quickly as possible” and pass the $95 billion bill. “Enough with the delay,” he said. “Enough with the uncertainty. Enough with promises to take action.”
Revere Representative Katherine Clark, the second-ranking House Democrat, demanded a vote on that bill.
“We are out of time,” she said in a written statement. “Continued Republican inaction will send a clear message to the world that the United States can no longer be counted on — that the House GOP is willing to sacrifice anything to appease Donald Trump and hold onto their personal power and titles.”
Trump has been critical of US support for Ukraine and suggested he’d be more amenable if the money were a loan. During an appearance with Trump on Friday, Johnson said he thought the loan concept “has a lot of consensus.” House majority leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, said Monday night that “a loan structure” would be part of the new legislation as well as including budget cuts to offset the costs.
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House Republican leaders are hoping they could vote on the four bills this week, but then they would have to go the Senate in a process that would slow the approval of aid to Israel and Ukraine. Because of that, Johnson is also facing pressure from some Republicans. They include Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who noted after Iran’s attacks that the $95 billion aid bill he supported “has waited months for action.”
“So I’ll once again urge our House colleagues to take up this legislation without delay,” McConnell said Monday.
House Republicans have lined up 17 bills for votes this week that are largely focused on Iran. They include the “No US Financing for Iran Act,” which would limit the ability of US financial institutions to engage with Iran, and the “Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act,” which would require a report on the assets of some Iranian government officials and terrorist leaders. None of those bills provide direct assistance to Israel.
Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Newton Democrat, said Iran’s attack on Israel has “expanded the political window” for the House to approve the Senate bill this week with a two-thirds majority that would allow for quick passage with limited debate and no amendments.
But he said it would take pressure from Republican and Democratic leaders, as well as Biden, to reach that threshold. In addition to Republican opposition, some progressive Democrats oppose additional military aid for Israel because they believe its military has not done enough to protect civilians in Gaza and stem the humanitarian crisis there.
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Iran’s attack probably helps Democrats persuade some progressives to support the bill, which contains $9.2 billion in humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza as well as Ukraine and other war zones, Auchincloss said. And the need for the US to support Israel after the attack should help overcome the concerns of some Republicans about Ukraine military assistance, he said.
Auchincloss, an outspoken supporter of Israel, was one of 46 Democrats to vote for a standalone House Republican Israel aid bill in February that failed to get the required two-thirds majority. He said he’d vote for such an Israel aid bill again. But Auchincloss said passage of the $95 billion Senate bill, which also includes aid for Taiwan, is imperative.
“If the response to this weekend’s attack is focused purely on Iran, it would miss the geopolitical reality that Iran, China, and Russia are inextricably linked in an axis opposed to the United States,” Auchincloss said. “And they are working together to undermine freedom, democracy, and the rule of law.”
Moulton, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he’s hopeful the Senate bill would pass the House but that “that there are elements of the far right and the far left that don’t understand the serious implications of this bill for our national security.”
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Representative Bill Keating, a Bourne Democrat who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, predicted the Senate foreign aid bill could get 300 votes if Johnson brought it up, more than the two-thirds majority needed.
“I think there are a lot of people even on their side who would vote for the whole package that might have been a bit reluctant before,” Keating said of House Republicans. “If they really want to move quickly on Israel, and Ukraine, they should take the Senate package.”
Jim Puzzanghera can be reached at jim.puzzanghera@globe.com. Follow him @JimPuzzanghera.