The House on Tuesday failed to pass a standalone package for $17.6 billion in Israel aid amid opposition from both Republicans and Democratic leaders.
Because of resistance among members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, House Speaker Mike Johnson had been forced to bring up the bill under a procedure that requires two-thirds majority of the House to approve it. That means he needed the support of a sizable number of Democrats to get behind it, and failed to cross that threshold.
Inside a closed caucus meeting Tuesday morning, House Democratic leadership made a forceful case against supporting the standalone Israel aid package to members. Dozens of Democrats exiting the meeting said they will be voting against the bill.
I believe the reasoning is the same as the US went through with 9/11. It obviously wouldn’t take billion of dollars to retaliate proportionally to October 7. Just like it wouldn’t have cost a trillion dollars to retaliate in kind for 9/11. The cost escalates beyond all proportion when the goal is not just to retaliate in kind, but to eliminate the possibility of such an attack happening again.