Gottheimer, N.J. Republicans support bill that provides aid to Israel, cuts IRS funding

The House passed a Republican-led bill this evening that provides $14.3 billion in aid to Israel and simultaneously cuts funding from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) and all three New Jersey Republicans voting in support.

“The United States must deliver support to Israel as they respond to the pure evil that Hamas has unleashed on their country,” said Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), who like both of his fellow New Jersey Republicans was a co-sponsor of the bill. “This funding is a crucial step. Today the House sent a powerful message that we will stand strong with our ally Israel and its right to defend itself.”

Democrats have sharply criticized the bill because of its cuts to the IRS’s enforcement initiatives – which the Congressional Budget Office estimated would increase the federal deficit by $12.5 billion thanks to lost revenue – and because it’s not linked to assistance for Ukraine or humanitarian aid in Gaza. The bill faces a rocky path in the Senate, where leaders of both parties want to put together a larger package of funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Gottheimer said that despite these qualms, he still believed that funding for Israel was important enough to pass the bill; he was one of 12 Democrats to vote for it.

“While I do not support the Speaker’s approach to this legislation, we must ensure that Israel has the resources to defeat Hamas and other terrorists, and get every hostage home, including all Americans,” Gottheimer said in a statement. “The symbol to the world of voting no would have done more damage. I look forward to voting for the Senate’s bipartisan bill.”

New Jersey’s eight other Democrats were less inclined to forgive the bill’s flaws, and all eight joined the vast majority of their caucus in voting against it.

“This bill is yet another example of Republicans supporting their unpopular agenda instead of the interests of the American people,” Rep. Donald Payne Jr. said in a statement. “Financial support for Israel after a terrorist attack should be an easy, bipartisan bill to pass… But Republicans would rather protect their billionaire, tax-cheating supporters than protect children.”

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) also noted that since the Senate and President Joe Biden oppose the bill, today’s vote may be a moot point regardless.

“This plan is dead on arrival in the Senate and Biden pledged to veto it anyways,” Watson Coleman said on Twitter. “So, we’ll be right back here soon and the Speaker has simply wasted even MORE time.”