Marshall slams Democrats for blocking Senate from taking up stand-alone Israel aid bill

EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) is criticizing Democrats for continuing to block his efforts to force the Senate to consider the House’s stand-alone Israel bill.

Marshall made the comments at a press conference on Tuesday after Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) objected to his attempt to force floor consideration on the aid bill, which would provide $14 billion for Israel’s defense and cut money from President Joe Biden’s hallmark Inflation Reduction Act intended to pay for 87,000 new IRS agents.

KYRSTEN SINEMA IS FACING ONE BIG PROBLEM AFTER DITCHING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY TO RUN ON HER OWN

(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

“We are running out of time. If we do not act this week, the earliest that this aid could be sent is the week after Thanksgiving, at least 14 days from now. There are still over 240 hostages, 10 of them being American hostages,” Marshall said in remarks shared exclusively with the Washington Examiner prior to the news conference. “We do not have that type of time to waste. Israel needs our help right now.”

“We need to show our allies that America is not a fair-weather friend,” the senator said. “We must send a clear message that Hamas’s unprovoked attacks against innocent Israelis will not be tolerated and that we will stand with Israel in their fight.”

The Kansas Republican has been leading the charge to urge Senate leadership to reverse course on backing Biden’s request to combine Israel aid with assistance packages for Ukraine, Taiwan, and U.S. border security. The supplemental request has received broad support from House and Senate Democrats, though Republicans have had varied reactions.

House Republicans, who control the lower chamber and can block any partisan bills backed by the president or the Democratic-led Senate, have started to rally around House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) proposal to pass Israel aid separately. While the IRS gambit will likely appeal to some Senate Republicans, the conference has not unified on a path forward on the bill, which passed the House with support from both parties despite some Democrats being angry about the paid-for.

“The media needs to be asking Senate Democrats why they are blocking this stand-alone House-passed, bipartisan, aid package that honors Joe Biden’s requested spending levels,” Marshall said on Tuesday. “It’s unconscionable to me that in Israel’s time of need, Democrats see their pain as a time to revive their never-ending desire to send money to Ukraine.”

“Time and time again during our debate today and last week, they came to the microphone to say Ukraine’s war is the reason Israel can’t get the aid they need right now,” he said.

The vast majority, if not all, of the Senate GOP conference is in favor of Israel aid. The same cannot be said for Ukraine’s assistance. While more than half of the 49 Republicans support some type of continued aid to Ukraine, there is a vocal part of the conference that strongly opposes such measures.

As a result, GOP senators are disputing whether Israel aid should be separated from a larger bill to allow members who support that effort but oppose Ukraine funding to vote for it.

In remarks on the Senate floor while making his Tuesday unanimous consent request on the Israel legislation, Marshall argued that Ukraine is “a separate, unrelated conflict with no end in sight.”

“There are far more questions than answers in that conflict,” he said. “But aid to Israel shouldn’t be held hostage for another blank check to Ukraine.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

However, Murray, the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, objected, arguing the United States must fund both Israel and Ukraine together.

“We cannot send the message to our allies or to the world that America only stands by some of its allies [and] that our word is only good some of the time,” Murray said.