Speaker Mike Johnson Defends 'Pay For' Israel Aid Bill

Senate Democrats are likely to reject the House's $14.5 billion Israel aid package because it repurposed funding from President Joe Biden's massive IRS expansion, but House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., denounced Democrats ignoring "pay fors."

"Instead of printing new dollars or borrowing it from another nation to send over to fulfill our obligations and help our ally, we want to pay for it, what a concept, we are trying to change how Washington works," Johnson said Sunday, as Politico reported, saying House Republicans' "pay for" plan is an attempt "to be good stewards of the taxpayer's resources."

The House's $14.5 billion Israel aid bill uses already appropriated Inflation Reduction Act funding for the IRS and redirects it to aid.

"We weighed priorities and said it is more important to protect Israel than to hire more IRS agents," Johnson added.

Stripping $14.5 billion from the IRS coffers would cut U.S. tax revenues by an estimated $26 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office review of the House GOP Israel aid bill.

"CBO anticipates that rescinding those funds would result in fewer enforcement actions over the next decade and in a reduction in revenue collections," the report concluded. "In total, CBO estimates, enacting section 306 would decrease outlays by $14.3 billion and decrease revenues by $26.8 billion over the 2024–2033 period, resulting in a net increase in the deficit of $12.5 billion over that period."

President Joe Biden is seeking $105 billion in new aid for Ukraine's and Israel's wars, with a larger majority going to Ukraine than Israel. House Republicans do not want to add $105 billion to the budget deficit, seeking to use previously assign funding to offset the impact, but Senate majority Democrats want to keep past funding untouched and add new emergency aid funding.

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