Republicans offered to help Israel at the expense of the American tax budget

Last week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, who was elected at the head of a group of Republican congressmen, introduced a bill that would provide $14.3 billion in military aid to Israel by cutting the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) budget by $14.3 billion. At the end of last week In his interview with Fox News, Johnson confirmed his intention to put the issue of providing support to Israel to a vote, using funds already allocated.

At the same time, he opposed combining aid packages for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan into one for a total of $105.85 billion. President Joe Biden received a corresponding request to Congress on October 20.

The document will be submitted to the House for consideration on Wednesday, November 1; voting on the bill may take place a day later, on Thursday. On the evening of October 31 (Moscow time), the Speaker of the House of Representatives discussed the bill with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. A bipartisan group in the House wrote to Johnson asking him to vote “yes” on the overall aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan.

The US Treasury said that Johnson’s proposal to use part of the IRS budget to help Israel would negatively affect the tax department’s ability to carry out its tasks. “The bill will increase the budget deficit, as it will help wealthy individuals and corporations evade taxes, increasing the tax burden of honest, working families,” Forbes quotes the department’s press secretary.

As proof of its effectiveness, the tax service reported that since the adoption of the Inflation Reduction Act on August 16, 2022, it has returned the missing $160 million to the budget, withdrawing it from 275 individuals whose annual income is above $1 million and whose tax debts amount to at least $250,000. The material notes that cutting the department’s budget will deprive it of the ability to conduct similar activities and “allow wealthy individuals and large corporations to evade the need to make their contribution.”

Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said aid to Israel should not be accompanied by budget cuts for federal agencies. “I am deeply thrilled that Speaker Johnson has made aid to Israel part of the political game,” the politician wrote on her page on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

In addition to cutting the tax authorities’ budget, criticism was caused by the fact that the bill does not include expenditure items to provide support for Ukraine. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Republicans of politicizing US national security.

For a bill to be approved, it must be voted on in both houses of Congress. And if in the House of Representatives the Republicans can collect a sufficient number of votes (more than half are needed), then in the Senate the majority is still with the Democrats.

At the same time, some Republicans from the upper house oppose the division of the Ukrainian and Israeli packages. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell stressed the need to provide aid to both countries as part of a single package. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham expressed a similar position.

Before Johnson’s bill, even if approved by the House, is put to a vote in the Senate, it will have to be discussed in relevant committees. The head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ben Cardin, has already stated that Johnson’s proposal in its current form (with cuts to the IRS budget) is doomed to failure.

On October 20, President Biden requested $105.85 billion from Congress for military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. House Republicans opposed the omnibus package. But Senate leaders from both parties have said they are willing to consider the president’s request. On October 31, the Senate Appropriations Committee began hearings on this issue.

Democrats do not want to support Johnson, but the upcoming elections and the situation in the Middle East may force them to discuss his proposal, says Victoria Zhuravleva, head of the Center for North American Studies at IMEMO RAS. At the same time, the expert emphasized that the dynamic developments in Israel and the Gaza Strip may force Democrats to temporarily push the issue of providing assistance to Ukraine into the background. She notes that, given the level of disagreement between the parties, it cannot be ruled out that Democrats will still try to push through a combined relief package.

“In the current situation, everything becomes a subject of bargaining,” Zhuravleva believes.

Lev Sokolshchik, senior researcher at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, agrees with the expert. He believes Johnson’s proposal is part of a political bargaining between Democrats and Republicans. According to Sokolshchik, both parties offer maximum request positions in order to be able to negotiate a deal acceptable to each other. Issues such as border security and the national debt are important to Republicans.

If Democrats can make concessions on these and other issues, then perhaps Republicans will be ready to approve aid to both Israel and Ukraine. But, as Sokolshchik explains, it is necessary to take into account that the United States is entering the election season, which will further radicalize the agenda of both parties. “It will be difficult for the parties to find a compromise, and accordingly, it will be more difficult for Biden to combine aid packages for Israel and Ukraine. However, the issue of providing assistance to the second is not closed; it remains a subject of debate and bargaining within the Republican Party and between Democrats and Republicans,” Sokolshchik concluded.