Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks from the Capitol steps Thursday, May 16, 2024, before the House votes on legislation to ensure U.S. security assistance is delivered promptly to Israel. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The press conference happened before the House was set Thursday to deliver a rebuke to Biden for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, voting on legislation that would seek to force the weapons transfer as Republicans worked to highlight Democratic divisions over the Israel-Hamas war.
Just weeks after Congress passed the national security supplemental, which included $26 billion for Israel, Johnson accused the Biden administration of "defying the will of Congress and withholding weapons shipments to Israel," claiming that this "is a catastrophic decision with global implications" that is being handled "as a political calculation."
The speaker said the House "will be voting on legislation to compel the delivery of defense weapons to Israel as they fight to protect themselves from radical terrorists and defend their very existence as a nation."
"But Joe Biden is threatening to veto that legislation, and Chuck Schumer is suggesting now that he refuses to bring it to the Senate floor," Johnson said. "On Oct. 7, Hamas, the radical terrorists, which are proxies for Iran, lit a fire in Israel, the proverbial fire that is still burning. And Biden and Schumer are telling Israel that they are only really allowed to put out part of that fire. That is just simply not going to work. Israel needs to finish the job, and America needs to help Israel extinguish the flame of terror that is wrought by Hamas."
Republican representatives Elise Stefanik of New York, Tom Emmer of Minnesota, Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana during a news conference outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"Where is President Biden caring about the lives of those American citizens that are being held hostage right now in tunnels under Gaza?" Scalise said. "President Biden is supporting Hamas' position against Israel. This is disgusting. When this bill passes with a bipartisan vote today through the House, the public pressure will grow so large that Chuck Schumer will have to take this bill up. And if this bill does pass the Senate, like some other bills that President Biden threatened to veto, that he ultimately signed because the public finally had enough. This is one of those cases."
Debate over the bill, rushed to the House floor by GOP leadership this week, showed Washington's deeply fractured outlook on the Israel-Hamas war.
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The White House and Democratic leadership have scrambled to rally support from a House caucus that ranges from moderates frustrated that the president would allow any daylight between the U.S. and Israel to progressives outraged that he is still sending any weapons at all.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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