A number of Democrats cried on the House floor during Thursday’s roll call for the vote on the Israel aid package and attacked Speaker Mike Johnson.
Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Greg Landsman voted for the $14.3 billion Israel aid package while crying and taking furious jabs at what they considered were the political games being played by the new House Speaker, Semafor reported. Johnson’s decision to attach cuts to IRS to the bill in particular drew their ire.
.@kadiagoba on Jewish Dems leaving the House floor in tears last night pic.twitter.com/xxY0o7JmV2
— Ben Smith (@semaforben) November 3, 2023
“If you’re not going to take this seriously, if you’re going to play politics with something like this, what does that mean for the rest of this Congress?,” Landsman told Semafor. Landsman then took aim at Johnson’s religiosity and proclaimed, “He doesn’t follow that book [the Bible],” Semafor noted.
“I have a masters in theological studies. I studied the Torah. I studied the Bible, front and back, every page,” Landsman explained about his own background to the news outlet.
“The safety and security of Israel is paramount, especially in her time of crisis. I was appalled at the gross politicization of this critical funding and an unprecedented conditioning of emergency aid to Israel by Speaker Johnson,” Wasserman Schultz wrote on Twitter.
🧵The safety and security of Israel is paramount, especially in her time of crisis. I was appalled at the gross politicization of this critical funding and an unprecedented conditioning of emergency aid to Israel by Speaker Johnson. https://t.co/FQYPTWCEj8
— Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (@RepDWStweets) November 2, 2023
The House bill, titled the “Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024”, passed with 226 votes in its favor and 196 against, according to the Office of the Clerk. 214 Republicans and 12 Democrats voted in favor of its passage, the Office of the Clerk noted.