WASHINGTON (The hill): House Democrats will remove a provision originally included in a bill that would have helped to boost Israel’s Iron Home air defense system in order to keep the federal government funded through Dec. 3.
Democratic leaders are removing the provision from the bill, which was unveiled Tuesday morning, after some progressives objected, according to sources familiar with the last-minute snag.
Democrats are still planning to bring the legislation to the House floor later Tuesday. Congress must act within a matter of days to avoid a government shutdown when current funding expires at the end of this month.
A spokesperson for House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said that funding for the Iron Dome “will be included in the final, bipartisan and bicameral” defense funding bill later this year.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a leading centrist, expressed frustration that the Iron Dome funding was being removed but stopped short of threatening to vote against the bill.
“The Iron Dome protects innocent civilians in Israel from terrorist attacks and some of my colleagues have now blocked funding it,” Gottheimer tweeted. “We must stand by our historic ally — the only democracy in the Middle East.”
The stopgap measure set for a vote later Tuesday would only keep the government funded through Dec. 3, meaning that lawmakers will still have to complete work on long-term spending bills for the fiscal year.
The bill would also suspend the debt limit through December 2022. Republicans have vowed to oppose any measure to suspend the debt limit as a form of protest against Democrats’ plans to enact a $3.5 trillion infrastructure package.
The bill to keep the government funded and suspend the debt limit also includes $28.6 billion to address recent natural disasters.
The move may draw the support of some GOP lawmakers, but two Louisiana Republicans who serve in House leadership — Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Rep. Mike Johnson — are urging their party to oppose the bill when it hits the floor later on Tuesday.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), meanwhile, has said he’ll “probably” vote for the package “because my state needs the help.”
Democrats point to the fact that they supported measures to suspend the debt limit while former President Trump was in office, and argue that Republicans should work to avoid a debt default on a bipartisan basis as they have in the past.
