In a spasm of anger, 3 #FarRight#Republicans on the #RulesCommittee, which controls what #legislation comes to the #House floor, refused to back rule needed to bring up the #aid bill, putting it on track to die in cmte. But every Democrat on the panel stepped in to save it in extraordinary breach of custom.
#HouseRepublicans took a critical step late Thurs night toward bringing up the long-stalled foreign #aid bill for #Ukraine, after being forced to rely on Democrat votes to move a plan to consider it out of a key cmte & onto the floor.
The 9-to-3 vote in the critical #RulesCommittee was an early step in the convoluted process the #House is expected to go through over the next couple of days to approve the $95B aid package.
#Democrats will all but certainly have to provide the votes on the floor to approve the rule & allow the #aid package to be brought up, again lending their support in another unorthodox vote in the face of #Republican infighting.
The rule is critical to #MikeJohnson’s plan to push the package thru the #House, as it separates aid to Israel & Ukraine, which are supported by different coalitions, but then it folds them together w/o requiring lawmakers to cast an up-or-down vote on the entire bill.
The #FarRightlawmakers won their seats on the #RulesCommittee as part of a deal made by fmr speaker #KevinMcCarthy, who haggled w/ #ultraconservatives opposing his leadership & only agreed to back him after he gave them critical leverage. They refused to support the measure to bring up the #aid package bc it wouldn’t allow a vote on #extremism#border security they prioritize over #Ukraine.
The Israeli military has conducted missile strikes against Iran, a snr #UnitedStates#military ofcl told NPR Thurs. There are also reports of explosions in #Iraq & #Syria.
Iran's Fars News Agency says explosions were heard in the central city of #Isfahan, according to the Reuters News Agency.
The extent of Israel's strikes & the weapons used weren't clear.
They also spoke about the importance of increasing & sustaining the flow of #humanitarian#aid to #civilians in #Gaza, including via the new route from Ashdod Port in #Israel.
A snr US ofcl on Thurs night declined to say whether #Gallant gave #Austin any advance warning of an impending strike.
#House Speaker #MikeJohnson is plowing ahead on a #ForeignAid plan that has roiled his conference & prompted 2 #Republicans to push an effort to oust him….
But instead of the complex 4-part plan he floated this week, Johnson now intends to try to pass 5 bills — 1 each for #aid to #Ukraine, #Israel, & #IndoPacific allies, …a #GOP wish list of #ForeignPolicy priorities & a 5th…to address widespread Republican… [#border ] demands….
#GOP leadership announced that the #House would stay in session until Sat to consider the bills.
[good friggin luck]
The new approach is risky & is already blowing up on the speaker, who…is being threatened by …#MarjorieTaylorGreene to invoke a “motion to vacate” to topple #MikeJohnson if he puts #Ukraine#aid on the floor, something to which many #FarRight#Republicans aka consumers of [#Russian#disinformation; #Putin & #Trump lackeys] object.
The #House#legislation turns a portion of the #aid, the money sent directly to #Ukraine, into a * #loan* & is endorsed by #Trump. It also includes just over $9B in #humanitarian aid for #Gaza, the #WestBank, Ukraine & other places in need, which #Democrats have demanded as a condition of any support from them. #MikeJohnson signaled Wed evening that there would probably be an amendment to the package to strip the #HumanitarianAid, which he said he has “concerns” with.
[the good Christian] #GOP
#House Speaker #MikeJohnson’s job is in serious jeopardy as #FarRight members are threatening to oust him after the #Republican leader proposed a complex plan intended to #fund key foreign #allies during wartime.
Johnson introduced a 4-part prop Mon night to decouple #aid for #Israel, which faced a barrage of missiles & drone threats from #Iran over the weekend, & help for #Ukraine in its fight against #Russia, along w/2 other measures.
Why #journalists and #humanitarian#aid workers assume they are safe to operate in a #war zone is beyond ignorant. Perhaps it's because they have never served in a #military?
If you are killed in a war zone, it's because you are in a war zone.
OTTAWA - Canadians are being told to avoid all travel to Israel and the West Bank because of the “unpredictable security situation” in the region.
" "100% der Bevölkerung des Gazastreifens leidet unter akuter Ernährungsunsicherheit... benötigen humanitäre #hilfe", sagte Blinken.
Nach Angaben des Gesundheitsministeriums des Gazastreifens wurden durch israelischen Beschuss und Bodenoffensiven mindestens 33.360 Palästinenser im #gazastreifen getötet und 74.993 verletzt, wobei zwei Drittel der Toten #frauen und #kinder sind."
Iran’s leaders have repeatedly vowed to punish #Israel for an April 1 strike in #Syria that killed several snr Iranian commanders. Israel has put its military on alert, & #Biden said on Wed that #Iran was threatening a “significant” attack.
Gen #MichaelKurilla the American commander, will coordinate w/Israel on what is widely expected to be imminent retaliatory action by Iran & will also discuss the #war against #Hamas in #Gaza & #humanitarian#aid operations there….
He’s also successfully nudging most #AntiAbortion#conservatives to accept his call to abandon a national standard — what was once a consensus position in the #GOP. That’s on top of #Trump’s long-standing opposition to new #Ukraine#aid, which remains stalled on the Hill.
So far, Trump is showing more proclivity for blocking GOP policy proposals than shaping them affirmatively, such as the bipartisan #border deal that he stopped earlier this year.
#Israel’s #war cabinet announced new measures to allow more #aid into #Gaza, including the opening of the Erez border crossing, Thurs evening. The move comes after President #Biden & PM #Netanyahu spoke & the #US NSC announced the new aid routes.
“This increased aid will prevent a #humanitarian crisis & is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting & to achieve the goals of the war,” the PM’s office said in a stmnt after Thur’s war cabinet meeting.
The announcement came hours after #POTUS had a tense phone call w/PM #Netanyahu during which Biden threatened to condition future support for Israel depending on how it addresses his concerns about #CivilianCasualties & the #HumanitarianCrisis in Gaza.
Nearly all of #aid that has reached Gaza has entered through 2 border crossings in the south, & conditions are especially bad in northern #Gaza, where most of the population lived before being #displaced by #Israel’s invasion.
‘Sympathy shifted to Israel’: many fear Iran attack has distracted aid effort (www.theguardian.com)
The US seems so preoccupied that officials are barely keeping track of shipments they last week said were a priority