EDITORIAL: The House is finally up and running

Hours after Republicans ended their three-week impasse on Wednesday and came together to elect a new speaker of the House, the lower chamber overwhelmingly passed a resolution pledging to provide Israel with whatever it needs to defeat Hamas.

It was an auspicious start for Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana.

The resolution is clear and unambiguous, stating that Israel has a right to defend itself “against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists” and asserts that the House “stands ready to assist Israel with emergency resupply and other security, diplomatic and intelligence support.”

It also condemns “Iran’s support for terrorist groups and proxies, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad” and urges “full enforcement” of economic sanctions against Iran.

“This Congress will have Israel’s back as it degrades and eliminates Hamas terrorist infrastructure,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said on the floor. “We will not waver, we will not quit, we will stand with our ally Israel.”

The resolution largely replicates a similar one that the Senate approved unanimously this month.

Now the heavy lifting begins. President Joe Biden has asked Congress for $105 billion in military aid for Israel and Ukraine. The package also includes money for the U.S.-Mexico border, the security of Taiwan and humanitarian assistance for areas of conflict around the globe. Mr. Biden has tied all these items together, “essentially daring lawmakers who oppose parts of the proposal to vote against an overall package,” The New York Times reports.

This will undoubtedly cause friction with many Republicans, some of whom aren’t eager to pour more money into Ukraine and are demanding more funding for border security. It will also be a tough pill for a small number of progressive Democrats, who have expressed antipathy for Israel and are indifferent to the crisis at the border.

The Senate, the Times reported, is likely to vote on the president’s proposal as a whole in coming weeks. But whether the House opts to split the package into separate pieces remains to be seen. No legislation will ever be pure, and compromise shouldn’t be a dirty word.

Ultimately, however, there is widespread support for Israeli aid and border security funding and — while tying them together with other objectives may serve the White House’s political goals — these two components remain the most pressing and shouldn’t be sacrificed to other ends. If it takes bundled legislation to raise the necessary votes, so be it.

But if the Biden proposal falls short, these two priorities should be broken out from the whole for separate passage.