The legislation has no chance of advancing in Congress or being signed into law. Republicans scheduled a vote anyway in an effort to spotlight Democratic divisions over Israel and rebuke the president.
- Share full article
Speaker Mike Johnson on Thursday. The vote was the latest bid by congressional Republicans to portray themselves and their party as the true friends of the Jewish state and capitalize politically on the rift among Democrats about the war.
The House on Thursday passed a bill that would rebuke President Biden for pausing an arms shipment to Israel and compel his administration to quickly deliver those weapons, in a largely symbolic vote engineered by the G.O.P. to spotlight the left’s divisions over Israel’s conduct of its offensive against Hamas.
The legislation has no chance of moving ahead. White House officials said the president would veto it, and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, said it was “not going anywhere” in the Senate.
But it had its intended effect of splintering Democrats: 16 of them joined Republicans in favor of legislation that condemned their own president’s administration. The measure passed 224 to 187.
The vote was the latest bid by congressional Republicans to portray themselves and their party as the true friends of the Jewish state and capitalize politically on the rift among Democrats about the war. The bill effectively forced Democrats to choose between a vote that would show unequivocal backing for Israel but embarrass Mr. Biden, and one that Republicans portrayed as anti-Israel.
Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said Mr. Biden and his team had turned their backs on Israel by even hinting that there were limits to the United States’ support.
“This administration has sowed the seeds of doubt on this nation’s commitment to its allies,” he said. “Red lines are meant for our enemies. Red lines are not meant for our allies and our friends.”
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Source: nytimes.com
