The House of Representatives, under Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), passed a stand-alone bill giving aid to Israel by offsetting funds for expanding the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Representative Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) appeared on Fox Business's Bottom Line to discuss, in addition to the Republican plan to get the border under control, although he said border security would only happen under a new President.
Rep. Gimenez said he was pleased with the result, saying he would rather "spend $14.3 billion helping the Israelis fight Hamas instead of funding the IRS to wage war against the American taxpayer" and expressed optimism the House would "stand [their] ground and that we have that offset."
Host Sean Duffy pointed out that this bill will be at odds with the Senate, which has no commitment to cut spending save for Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who recently said Republicans should not offer any aid to Israel until the border is secure.
Duffy asked Rep. Gimenez if he agreed with Sen. Tuberville's proposal, to which he responded that the sentiment was sound, "Until you get a new President, you are not going to solve the border problem. Because it is not an issue of funding, it is an issue of will, and this President has no will to control the border."
Reporter Edward Lawrence provided additional insight into the migrant crisis as Brandon Johnson and Mike Johnston, mayors of sanctuary cities Chicago and Denver, respectively, recently requested the Biden Administration provide funds toward housing and feeding migrants coming into their towns, with Johnston of Denver saying migrants should be allowed to work immediately after being processed.
Returning to Gimenez, the hosts asked why American taxpayers should be footing the bill for these migrants going specifically to the cities that said they would take them in.
"We should not be," Gimenez answered, "And the issue with the work is that those migrants should not be crossing into the United States. The law is pretty specific. It says if you are asking for asylum, you either have to ask for it in a third country or if you come to the United States, they have to be detained until their asylum hearings."
More egregiously, he continued, up to a decade will pass for most of these cases to receive a hearing, a fact Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody blasted the Biden Administration for in October. "That is a massive failure of the Biden Administration," said Gimenez, although he was unsure if it truly counts as a failure because he could "believe it is done on purpose."
