Speaker Johnson bets optics will force Senate Democrats to choose Israel over IRS

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) predicted Tuesday that the public would say Israel aid was more pressing than funding additional Internal Revenue Service agents.

The proposed $14.5 billion Israel aid bill is expected to come to the House floor later this week.

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“My intention is to call Leader Schumer over there and have a very direct and thoughtful conversation about this,” Johnson told Fox News’s Kayleigh McEnany, who asked if his plan to fund the aid would “drive away some Democrats in the Senate.”

“I understand their priority is to bulk up the IRS,” he continued. “But I think if you put this to the American people and they weigh the two needs — I think they’re going to say standing with Israel and protecting the innocent over there is in our national interest.”

He also added the country would say the Israel aid was a “more immediate need than IRS agents.”

Johnson introduced the proposal on Monday, which differs from President Joe Biden’s initial ask for $106 billion to address Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan, and border security. Instead, the speaker’s bill addresses Israel alone. His choice to separate the aid came following calls from hard-line members of the Republican Party to do so.

Funding for the measure would be taken from the fund for Biden’s hallmark Inflation Reduction Act, which Johnson noted contains $67 billion. “We’ll try to take the 14.5 necessary for this immediate and urgent need. We’ll deal with the rest of that issue later,” he said.

Several Democratic senators dismissed the new speaker’s plan after its release, calling it a “nonstarter.”

“We believe, our Democratic caucus, we should be doing all of it together — Israel, Ukraine, South Pacific, etc.,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said.

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Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said, “This will not fly,” and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) called the proposal a “recipe for disaster.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Johnson met Tuesday, but the former remained tight-lipped about their discussion. “It was a really good meeting. I really appreciate the opportunity,” Blinken said. “I’ll leave our conversation at that.”