Rep. Michael McCaul on Sunday said the House needed a speaker to “replenish” Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, which would involve providing Israel with more military aid.
“We have to get a Speaker elected this week, so we can get things on the floor like replenishing the Iron Dome,” McCaul, the head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN.
The US provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid each year and is set to authorize more in the wake of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel. Following a 2021 bombing campaign in Gaza, Israel asked the US for an additional $1 billion in funding for the Iron Dome, which it received in 2022.
McCaul is also looking to pass a resolution condemning Hamas that he’s authored with Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We have to get a Speaker elected this week, so we can get things on the floor like replenishing the Iron Dome, get a resolution that Ranking Member and I have been working on, a bipartisan resolution condemning Hamas for what they have done to Israel,” McCaul said.
The House is expected to elect a new speaker on Wednesday, but McCaul wants the resolution condemning Hamas before that. “We want to get that on the floor by unanimous consent. Whether or not we have a Speaker in place, because I think we cannot wait. We have to get that message out as soon as possible,” he said.