Israel war: McConnell and Cotton introduce bill to freeze $6 billion for Iran

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) unveiled legislation on Wednesday to block Iran from gaining access to the $6 billion released by the Biden administration in the wake of last weekend’s unprecedented terrorist attack in Israel.

The Republican senators will try to force floor action on the bill, seeking unanimous consent to pass it, though the effort is likely to fail in a chamber controlled by President Joe Biden’s party. A large swath of Senate Republicans and every swing-state Democrat up for reelection next year have said that the United States should no longer permit Tehran to access the funds in the wake of the carnage in Israel.

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“The path of resources, training, and lethal weapons from Tehran to terrorists throughout the Middle East is crystal clear. On Saturday, it enabled cold-blooded killers like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to perpetrate the deadliest day of violence against Jews in decades,” McConnell said in a statement. “The civilized world must re-impose serious consequences on the regime that aids and abets murderous evil against innocent Israelis.

“The United States must lead that effort by our example, and freezing Iranian assets is an important first step,” he added.

Cotton called on the president to “immediately re-freeze the funds,” arguing that the decision to let Tehran access them “freed up other money for the regime to fund its attacks in Israel.”

Oded Balilty/AP

McConnell and Cotton are not the only senators working on policy solutions to force the Biden administration to reverse course.

A source close to Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee and the sole member of Congress running for president this cycle, told the Washington Examiner that he is working on legislation to freeze the $6 billion the United States exchanged with Iran for five American hostages.

Scott slammed the administration’s decision to release the funds, which are currently being held in South Korea, and called for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to testify before the Banking Committee on the matter in a speech at the Hudson Institute on Tuesday.

“He rewarded Iran for taking American hostages by unlocking $6 billion for the mullahs,” Scott said, referring to Biden. “The administration swears the money can only be spent for humanitarian needs. But how naive can you be? Money is fungible. We just gave a terrorist-supporting regime billions of dollars and room in their budget.”

Yellen has not ruled out additional sanctions against Iran in response to the attack, saying at a Wednesday news conference on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s annual meetings, “We have sanctions on Hamas, on Hezbollah. This is something that we have been constantly looking at and using information as it becomes available to tighten sanctions.”

“I wouldn’t take anything off the table in terms of future possible actions,” she also said.

At least 1,000 Israeli civilians and 14 Americans are dead as a result of the carnage, while more than 2,500 have been injured. In addition, more than 800 Palestinians have died since the conflict erupted on Saturday. Those numbers do not account for the more than 100 Israelis and Americans being held hostage by Hamas, the Iran-backed terrorist group that operates in Gaza and carried out the assault.

In addition to Republicans, Senate Democrats facing tough reelection fights in 2024 are also calling on the administration to undo its release of the funds.

Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), all of whom are on the ballot in swing or red states next year, came out on Wednesday in favor of blocking the $6 billion from reaching Tehran. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jon Tester (D-MT), the two most vulnerable Senate Democrats of the cycle, called on Biden to block the funds from Iran on Tuesday.

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Brown, who chairs the Banking Committee, also vowed that the panel “will examine the financing behind Hamas’s attacks, including whether cryptocurrency was involved, and what additional economic tools we need to stop state sponsors of terrorism, including Iran, from supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups.”

Rosen, meanwhile, led a bipartisan letter on Wednesday to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting that the Pentagon transfer two additional Iron Dome batteries and other unused military assets to Israel. The memo was also signed by Sens. Mike Rounds (R-SD), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).