Speaker Johnson floats stand-alone Israel aid plan after Schumer’s comments made situation ‘even more urgent’

Speaker Mike Johnson sat down for an interview with Fox News Digital and said there were "early conversations" about a new stand-alone aid bill for Israel.

Speaker Mike Johnson floated the possibility that the House could consider a new stand-alone Israel aid bill. (Getty Images)

Democrats have been urging Johnson to take up the Senate’s $95 billion supplemental foreign aid package with funds for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian support in Gaza

Johnson signaled in the past that there wasn’t enough GOP support in the House to take up the measure, but he told Fox News Digital he was "actively considering all the options with regard to the supplemental issues."

"We will be turning our attention to it as soon as the government funding is — as soon as the text is filed, we’ll get that done," Johnson said.

One of his first acts as speaker was putting a stand-alone $14 billion Israel aid bill on the floor, which passed along bipartisan lines. However, Schumer panned the bill as a nonstarter because it would have required the funding to be offset by cuts to IRS dollars.

Citing those concerns, Johnson passed a bill last month to give Israel $17.6 billion with no offsets, but Schumer has not taken up that bill either.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been criticized by progressives and leftists for his response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

"Hamas and the Palestinians who support and tolerate their evil ways, radical right-wing Israelis in government and society, President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu — these are the four obstacles to peace, and if we fail to overcome them, then Israel and the West Bank and Gaza will be trapped in the same violent state of affairs they’ve experienced for the last 75 years," Schumer said.

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"These obstacles are not the same in their culpability for the present state of affairs. But arguing over which is the worst stymies our ability to achieve peace."

During a press conference addressing that earlier, Johnson called it "inappropriate" for "an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics, while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival."

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

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