In Washington: When Congress reconvenes from its Thanksgiving break this week, lawmakers will once again discuss whether to approve U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine, with significant ambiguity over the way ahead in light of the differences between the two parties.
Congress faces a two-part deadline to finance the government that may come closer than anticipated, in addition to a defence policy measure and reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration before year’s end.
With only 12 legislative days remaining in the House this year, according to the official calendar, leading legislators feel that in order to increase the likelihood of passing legislation, they need to break the impasse over foreign assistance.Â
Source : NBC NEWS
There are many issues that complicate the objective. Republicans demand that any assistance to Ukraine come with stronger asylum regulations and more border enforcement from the United States. Additionally, there is growing disagreement among Democrats on whether or not to withhold financing for Israel until its government takes concrete action to halt hostilities as the number of civilian deaths in the Middle East climbs.
Leader of the progressive movement Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said, “The blank cheque approach must end.”
On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer informed his colleagues that he intended to introduce Biden’s “supplemental package for national security to the floor as early as the week of December 4th.”
“At the moment, the largest obstacle to the national security assistance package is the Republican colleagues’ insistence on politicised border policy as a prerequisite for essential help to Ukraine. Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said in a letter that “this has injected a decades-old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities.”
“Democrats are prepared to work on reasonable immigration reforms; however, the entire national security supplemental package is at risk due to partisan hard-right demands such as those found in H.R. 2.”
Biden comments on Israel assistance that is conditional.
Conversely, Biden is not making a firm stand.
Speaking to reporters on Friday on an agreement struck by the United States to free captives in the Israel-Hamas conflict, Biden said, “That’s a worthwhile thought,” in reference to the notion of placing restrictions on assistance to Israel. “However, I doubt that we would have arrived at our current position if I had started out that way.”
When questioned on Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Joe Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, declined to comment on whether the president would rather place restrictions on assistance to Israel. “He will persist in concentrating on what yields outcomes,” Sullivan said.
It’s a difficult conundrum to solve given the Republican rift over money for Ukraine, the Democratic division on Israel, and the bleak prospects for an immigration solution that has evaded Congress for decades.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in an interview with “Fox News Sunday” that Biden “seems to care more about Ukraine’s borders than he cares about America’s borders.”
Cotton said, “We want to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country and secure our border.” Thus, “we have to have significant and substantial reforms to our border policy, specifically asylum and parole, in exchange for providing additional funding for Ukraine.”
The GOP’s position on Ukraine, according to Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., indicates that the party is “now prepared under the leadership of Donald Trump to hand Ukraine back over to Russia,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”#Congress
Funding deadlines and a strict schedule Congress
The House has only 20 legislative days left before the first deadline of January 19 to finance a portion of the government, excluding foreign assistance. Then, there will be four more days of instruction before the second deadline of February 2 to finance the remaining portion and avoid a catastrophic shutdown.#Congress
Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, is under pressure to advance party-line spending measures in the way that hard-liners desire.
They ousted Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., his predecessor, in late September because he did not act swiftly enough and had resorted to a short-term measure. Considering that Johnson just started the position a month ago, they are prepared to allow him more time to get it right for the time being.#Congress
The hardliners, however, are not a patient group.
Furthermore, it will be difficult to approve the remaining funding legislation. Due to resistance from centrists opposing anti-abortion wording and objections from East Coast Republicans to Amtrak cutbacks, Johnson cancelled votes on two of them before the Thanksgiving holiday because there was insufficient support.#Congress
Swing-district Republicans are wary of other remaining GOP appropriations proposals because they include anti-abortion measures, such as the one funding the departments of Labour, Health and Human Services, and Education.
Conservative demands for changes to defund the prosecutors of former President Donald Trump are combined with measures targeting federal law enforcement that have polarised GOP members in the bill to finance the departments of Commerce, Justice, and scientific policy.#Congress
Republicans are encouraging Johnson to find a solution.
“It is my belief that the majority of Republicans do not hold Speaker Johnson accountable for the issues and difficulties he is currently dealing with,” said Rep. Ken Buck, a Republican from Colorado who supported the motion to remove McCarthy from office, on Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”#Congress
“Those were developed during the McCarthy era, and Speaker Johnson is making progress in resolving those difficulties. Therefore, no, I don’t believe he will encounter a revolt.
“We have three weeks of legislative business ahead of us, if not more, and we can get those things done and they’re very important to get done,” said Buck, indicating that he is in favour of assistance to Israel and Ukraine, provided it is paid for.#Congress
