Friends in need

News of Iran’s aerial assault on Israel over the weekend is spurring Congress to take action on foreign aid in the days ahead.

On Saturday, Israel said it had intercepted a barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones fired by Iran in an escalation of already intense hostilities between the two nations. On Sunday, the leadership team in the House of Representatives announced plans to consider as many as 17 new measures such as the No U.S. Funding for Iran Act, the Iran Sanctions Accountability Act of 2023, and more.

“I will continue to engage with the White House to insist upon a proper response,” U.S. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced on X. “As Israel faces this vicious attack from Iran, America must show our full resolve to stand with our critical ally. The world must be assured: Israel is not alone.”

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to grapple with questions of U.S. involvement abroad and what measures Washington can take to prevent the conflict in Gaza from spilling into new fronts. Congress’ response to Iran’s aggression will likely affect how it answers similar questions for other conflicts around the world.

The flurry of bills, a few of which are bipartisan proposals, aims to put financial, international, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to back off. Almost all of them call for U.S. sanctions on Iran. One of them would put pressure on the International Monetary Fund, a financial institution of the United Nations, to stop sending aid to Iran. Another bill calls on President Joe Biden to use the 2018 Export Control Reform Act to choke off American technology exports to Tehran. One more looks to revitalize sanctions against Iran that expired in 1996.

But of the many bills, none provides a dollar-amount aid package or weapons. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., believes that’s the place the House should start.

“The best way to help Israel against Iran and to help Ukraine against Russia is for Speaker Johnson and the House to pass the bipartisan, Senate-passed national security supplemental this week,” Schumer said.

The Emergency National Security Supplemental Act of 2024, passed by the Senate in February, would provide $118 billion in aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, along with border-security reforms.

But almost as soon as it was unveiled, lawmakers in the House dismissed the package, objecting to the Ukraine funding elements and what they saw as insufficient border security measures.

Many of the most conservative members of the House have said that they won’t support any additional aid to Ukraine that doesn’t also adequately deal with U.S. border security. Meanwhile, House Democrats won’t support a stand-alone Israel aid bill without including some form of aid to Ukraine.

“Ukraine does not deserve the United States federal government funding a war with billions and billions of dollars in our military equipment which is the best in the world,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Georgia. “They’ve already sent them $113 billion. If we’re going to fight a war, we should fight the cartels. The American people’s agenda is peace for Ukraine and fight for our border.”

Greene and many like-minded Republicans say Congress should act on domestic priorities before sending more aid abroad.

With just a two-seat majority in the House, Johnson will almost certainly have to rely on Democratic votes to pass any legislation that includes aid for Ukraine.

The impasse has led moderate House Republicans to pressure the speaker to bring some sort of foreign-aid bill to the floor—even if that means going against his own party. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., has launched a long-shot piece of legislation called a discharge petition that would force a floor vote on a foreign-aid bill over the objections of party leadership. With certain concessions on humanitarian aid for Gaza and a few other items, Fitzpatrick believes he can get the needed support from House Democrats. He would need 218 signatures, a majority of the chamber.

“If the speaker tries to put [a bill] on the table that doesn’t get the votes, then I think there’s only one other vehicle and that’s our discharge petition,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said he will give Johnson a chance to pass Ukraine aid before he releases text for his bill.

While a stand-alone Israel aid bill might receive more support among Republicans, one attempt to pass such a bill already failed in February. Even if House Republicans rallied around a second attempt, its fate would be uncertain in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

Johnson announced that the House would try again to pass stand-alone Israel aid in the coming week.