China News Service, Beijing, February 7 (Xinhua) Washington News: The U.S. House of Representatives voted on a bill to provide a total of US$17.6 billion in military aid to Israel on the 6th local time. As a result, the bill failed to pass.
In the vote that day, there were 250 votes in favor and 180 votes against. The number of votes in favor did not reach two-thirds of the total votes and the bill was not passed. Among them, 204 Republican members and 46 Democratic members voted in support of the bill, while 14 Republican members and 166 Democratic members voted against it.
Regarding the bill, Republican lawmakers who voted against it believed that the bill did not include content related to cutting government spending and would increase the financial burden. Democratic lawmakers who voted against it believed that if the aid bill to Israel is passed, there is almost no chance that the aid bill to Ukraine will be passed later.
Before the vote, the White House issued a statement saying that if both houses of Congress approve the military aid bill to Israel, President Biden will exercise his presidential veto to veto it.
Democratic leaders in both houses of Congress recently stated that the two parties should cooperate to pass a complete security bill, including military assistance to Israel and Ukraine and funds to strengthen border security.
According to US media reports, Democrats hope to "bundle" and pass aid bills for Israel and Ukraine, but some Republican lawmakers oppose providing aid to Ukraine and only support providing aid to Israel, so the two sides are in a "deadlock."
On the same day, the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas also failed to pass in a vote in the House of Representatives. The Associated Press said that the failure of two votes in one day was undoubtedly a "big blow" to the Republican leaders of the House of Representatives. (over)