Wednesday, April 17, 2024

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1/ Speaker Mike Johnson defied threats from his Republican colleagues to oust him and scheduled a vote on individual bills to fund Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. Johnson plans to have the House vote on three individual foreign aid bills, a fourth bill sanctioning Russia, China, and Iran, and a fifth bill addressing border security measures. The package largely mirrors the Senate-passed $95 billion aid package, with the exception for the border security provisions. Johnson, however, will almost certainly need Democratic votes to get the package to the floor, as well as to save his job if he faces a motion to vacate. Biden endorsed the plan and urged Congress to work quickly. The House is expected to vote Saturday evening. (NBC News / Associated Press / CNN / Politico / New York Times / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / NPR / Axios / CNBC)

2/ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “do everything necessary to defend itself.” Over the weekend, Iran launched more than 300 attack drones and cruise and ballistic missiles at Israel in response to an Israeli strike on Iran’s embassy in Syria that killed two Iranian generals. The U.S., U.K., and Germany have pressed Israel to not further escalate tensions with Iran and to instead be satisfied with its successful air defense that intercepted nearly all the missiles and drones. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, however, said it’s “clear the Israelis are making a decision to act — we hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible.” The U.S. and the E.U are also planning new sanctions on Iran meant to “degrade Iran’s military capacity.” Nevertheless, Netanyahu said Israel “will make our own decisions” about how to respond to Iran’s retaliatory strikes. Iran, meanwhile, warned that even the “tiniest invasion” by Israel would bring a “massive and harsh” response. (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News / CNN / Wall Street Journal / Associated Press)

3/ For the second time in two weeks, Arizona House Republicans blocked an attempt to rep...

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