WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday he plans to hold a vote on a standalone Israel aid bill despite a Congressional Budget Office report showing it could increase the federal deficit.
In the first major legislative action under Johnson, House Republicans unveiled their bill on Monday seeking to provide $14.3 billion for Israel by cutting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) funding.
The House could vote on the bill and pass it with Republican support as (Reuters) -Casino billionaire and mega Republican donor Miriam Adelson met in Las Vegas with 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Haley, who has been rising in the polls in key states, over the weekend, two sources briefed on the meeting said.
The previously unreported meeting during a gathering of Republican Jewish donors is likely a positive sign for Haley given Adelson’s status as one of the pre-eminent Republican donors.
Israeli-born Adelson also met with former president Donald Trump in Las Vegas over the weekend, with The Messenger reporting they had dinner together. She and her late husband Sheldon Adelson were major Trump supporters in 2016 and 2020.
Haley has tied with or surpassed rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in several recent state polls as the two vie to become the top alternative to Trump, who remains the runaway frontrunner to clinch the nomination as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate.
According to some media reports, Adelson plans to stay neutral in the Republican nominating contest, which kicks off Jan. 15 in the midwestern state of Iowa, but will likely put money behind the party’s nominee to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden.
It was not immediately clear what other presidential candidates, if any, Adelson met.
When asked whether DeSantis had also met Adelson in Las Vegas, a spokesperson for the campaign said DeSantis and Adelson have been “friends” for a long time and that “nothing has changed,” adding that “we respect her continued commitment to stay neutral during the primary.”
Haley’s team declined to comment. A spokesperson for Adelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Haley has been gaining traction as a Trump alternative among Republican donors thanks to strong debate performances and a longtime pro-Israel stance. Haley, a former ambassador to the United Nations, raised around $8.2 million between July and September, a significant haul.
However, many big benefactors remain reticent to write checks when Trump is so far ahead and several contenders are splitting the anti-Trump vote, donors and sources close to donors say. Even if the pack were to winnow down, Trump has a formidable lead in state polls, at times over 50%.
Forbes ranks Adelson and her family as the 40th richest in the world with wealth of around $31.7 billion.
She and Sheldon Adelson gave the most – over $218 million – to Republican and conservative causes in the 2020 U.S. election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political spending.
The Adelsons are known for their philanthropy and business ventures in Israel and donations to Jewish causes. Sheldon Adelson, who died in 2021, headed the casino company Las Vegas Sands Corp.
soon as Thursday. But it is unlikely to become law, as it faces stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has threatened a veto.
Democrats and some Republicans oppose the plan, choosing instead to support Democratic President Joe Biden’s request for a $106-billion bill including funding for Ukraine’s war effort, increased border security, humanitarian aid and efforts to push back against China in the Indo-Pacific, as well as money for Israel.
Johnson voted against aid to Ukraine before he became speaker, but Republican Senator Josh Hawley said he told a group of senators at a lunch meeting on Wednesday that he does support some money for the Kyiv government, just not combined with Israel aid.
Johnson’s office did not immediately respond to a request to verify his remarks.
But Johnson told Fox News in an interview on Wednesday that Ukraine’s funding would be linked with border security.
“Those two things are going to be handled together,” Johnson said.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Wednesday that the IRS cuts and the Israel aid in the standalone bill would add nearly $30 billion to the U.S. budget deficit, currently estimated at $1.7 trillion.
Johnson rejected that assessment, telling reporters: “We don’t put much credence in what the CBO says.”
To become law, any legislation must pass the House, the Senate and be signed into law by Biden.
Democrats accused Johnson’s Republicans of wasting time by backing a partisan measure rather than a bill that would pass quickly to address the crisis following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Iran-backed Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip.
The top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, said on Tuesday the bill would be dead on arrival in the upper chamber.
The Biden administration said Biden would veto such a bill if it reached his desk, calling it “bad for Israel, for the Middle East region, and for our own national security.”
Newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) delivers remarks on the outer steps of the House of Representatives after he was elected to be the new Speaker at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., October 25, 2023.
