Even in the world-gone-mad context of American politics, the veto threat reported in the NEW YORK TIMES news item transmitted below strikes me as psychedelic.
In a flagrant pot-calling-the-kettle-black pronouncement, President Biden is accusing House Speaker Mike Johnson of a "cynical political maneuver" in proposing stand-alone legislation to provide $17.6 BILLION of genocide-support tribute to Israel.
The "cynical political maneuver" being proposed is Mr. Biden's effort to wrap together in a single bill four unrelated funding requests on the undisguised assumption that, since few members of Congress would dare to vote against any tribute payment to Israel, he could get approval for other matters for which approval on their own "merits" (or at least popularity in Congresional eyes) would be far from assured.
Speaker Johnson may be wrong about many things, but he is highly likely to be right that President Biden's veto threat is a bluff.
It is virtually unimaginable that, if both houses of Congress were to pass legislation to provide any tribute payment to Israel, Biden would dare to veto it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/05/us/politics/biden-veto-israel-ukraine-immigration-.html
Biden Threatens to Veto Bill That Would Help Israel but Not Ukraine
President Biden accused Republicans in the House of a “cynical political maneuver” intended to kill broader legislation that would also provide money for the southern border.
By Michael Shear
Reporting from Washington
President Biden vowed on Monday to veto a House Republican bill that would provide $17.6 billion in aid to Israel, calling it a “cynical political maneuver” intended to hurt the chances of passage for broader legislation that would provide money for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and the U.S. border.
House Republicans fiercely oppose the larger bill, which was unveiled by a small, bipartisan group of senators over the weekend. It calls for $118.3 billion in spending and would overhaul some of the nation’s immigration laws to deal with recent surges of migrants at the southern border.
Speaker Mike Johnson said on Saturday that Republicans would instead offer the Israel-only funding bill instead.
In its official response on Monday, the Biden administration said the president would veto the House bill if it came to his desk.
“The administration strongly opposes this ploy, which does nothing to secure the border, does nothing to help the people of Ukraine defend themselves against Putin’s aggression, fails to support the security of American synagogues, mosques and vulnerable places of worship, and denies humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, the majority of whom are women and children,” the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.
Mr. Johnson called Mr. Biden’s veto threat an “act of betrayal” toward Israel.
“Israel is at war, fighting for its very right to exist, while our brave men and women in uniform are in harm’s way on his orders to deter Iran,” Mr. Johnson said. “In threatening to veto aid to Israel and to our military forces, President Biden is abandoning our ally in its time of greatest need. I urge friends of Israel and opponents of Iran to call the president’s bluff and pass this clean aid package.”
If neither bill passes, Mr. Biden will be forced to find a new approach to supporting Israel’s war against Hamas, the armed group in Gaza that launched a terrorist attack inside Israel on Oct. 7 that killed about 1,200 people.
Israel has traditionally been one of the largest recipients of foreign aid from the United States, and support for that aid has generally been supported by majorities in both parties.