Speaker Mike Johnson is blasting Democrats for being “hypocritical” when it comes to standing with Israel after Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Tuesday.
The GOP leader kicked off a planned Tuesday speech before the New York Stock Exchange by calling on the Biden administration to send a clear message to Iran that their attacks against Israel won’t be tolerated. He urged the Biden administration “to fully enforce the Iran sanctions on the books and reimpose the U.N. sanctions lest they expire.”
There are widespread concerns that the escalating battle between Israel and Iran could turn into an even broader international conflict.
“We also recognize that it’s hypocritical for the administration to express support for Israel’s defense while continuing to appease the Iranian regime with billions or hundreds of billions of dollars, actually, in sanctions relief,” Johnson said at the speech, while calling for a “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran and Iranian-backed groups.
“President Biden needs to make clear that there will be decisive economic and potential military ramifications for these actions,” he added.
Less than an hour before the speech, Johnson put out a statement that even more directly blamed President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for actions that led to the Tuesday attacks: “Our adversaries are carrying out increasingly dangerous attacks because of Biden and Harris’ weak and failed foreign policy.”
The speaker was originally slated to speak in New York on Republicans’ economic agenda if they hold control of both chambers of Congress and the White House in 2025. And the Iran attack wasn’t the only news that took him off topic — he also addressed disaster relief after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast over the weekend.
Multiple lawmakers have called on Congress to return from its preelection break to pass more disaster relief cash, but Johnson appeared to shut the door on those demands Tuesday. He said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the immediate money that it needs to address the multi-state devastation.
“We’ll be working with our members, with FEMA, with state and local emergency management, to help address the many needs that are out there, and this is going to go on for some time. … Congress has previously provided FEMA with the funds it needs to respond, so we will make sure that those resources are appropriately allocated,” he said.
The short-term funding bill that Congress passed last month extends FEMA’s current funding level of $20 billion, which congressional leaders believe is enough to handle immediate needs. And while President Joe Biden suggested this week that he might request that Congress come back into session to handle the fallout from Hurricane Helene, administration officials told reporters earlier Tuesday that FEMA was in a “good position” to address the hurricane’s destruction.
Johnson did broadly sketch out 2025 priorities for Republicans, hitting similar talking points that he’s focused on before. Those include rolling back Biden-era regulations, extending Trump-era tax cuts for the middle class that are set to expire, cutting spending and vowing to “root out a long list of nonessential jobs throughout the federal bureaucracy.”
Republicans have been quietly planning for months how they would potentially use slim congressional majorities, particularly if Donald Trump wins the White House. A process known as budget reconciliation would allow them to pass some partisan measures without Senate Democratic help, assuming they control both chambers, but that path still comes with strict limits.
“It’s our intention, with a new Senate Republican majority and a Republican president, Republican House, to pursue a policy of fiscal responsibility,” he said.
