众议院多数党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯周日为共和党人辩护寻求给以色列送去援助在与哈马斯的战争中，通过削减国税局的资金来加强税收，包括从富人那里。
“我们通过了一项法案，解决了我们国防部谈论的两个问题:第一，我们需要向以色列提供援助，我们确实这样做了;但是当我们的将军们来到像武装部队这样的委员会前作证时，他们说我们的债务是我们最大的国家威胁。不是像中国、俄罗斯这样的其他国家，他们说这是我们的债务。我们在两党投票中解决了这两个问题，”斯卡利斯告诉美国广播公司“本周”主播乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯。
周四，大多数众议院共和党人人与12名民主党人一起通过了140亿美元的援助以色列一揽子计划，该计划被国税局大致相同的削减所抵消。参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默表示，他的参议院甚至不会接受这一提议。
斯特凡诺普洛斯就无党派的国会预算办公室(CBO)的分析向斯卡利斯施压，称众议院共和党领导的对以拨款法案将增加125亿美元的政府赤字，主要是因为这将削弱国税局强制征税的能力。
尽管受到保守派的批评，该机构在去年的通货膨胀削减法案中看到了资金的大幅增加。
“你把对以色列的援助与削减国税局的执法力度联系在一起，国税局的执法力度旨在打击富人的逃税行为。为什么要把这两者结合起来?这位新议长准备在众议院为以色列提供清洁资金了吗?”斯特凡诺普洛斯周日问斯卡利斯。
斯卡利斯回应说，根据CBO的说法，年收入低于40万美元的家庭也将向国税局缴纳更多的税，因为该机构获得了更多的资金，他说这削弱了总统乔·拜登的承诺。
CBO在2022年写给立法者的一封信中表示，收入低于40万美元的家庭增加的税收“只是总增量的一小部分”，尽管他们无法预测准确的数字。
斯卡利斯还反对增加赤字的对以援助法案，坚称“CBO在许多方面都是错误的”
“我们通过了向以色列提供援助的法案，这是一次两党投票，已经在参议院结束。如果参议院对该法案有异议，他们可以提出来。如果他们把它送给总统，我毫不怀疑总统会签署这项法案，”斯卡利斯说，尽管白宫已经表示，乔·拜登总统将否决这项立法。
支持以色列在哈马斯10月7日的恐怖袭击之后他说:“这将是一场漫长的战争，我们与以色列的每一步都是一场冲突。”
众议员史蒂夫·斯卡利斯于2023年10月28日在拉斯维加斯举行的共和党犹太联盟年度领导人会议上发表讲话。
大卫·贝克尔/美联社
在科罗拉多州共和党众议员肯·巴克上周宣布他将退休后，斯卡利斯被单独问到他是否认为2020年的总统选举是合法的保守派对选举否定主义的关注.
在他的退休公告中，巴克说:“太多的共和党领导人在对美国撒谎，声称2020年的选举被偷走了。”
斯特凡诺普洛斯在“本周”节目中问斯卡利斯:“你能明确地说2020年的选举没有被盗吗?”
这引发了一场争论，因为多数党领袖一再拒绝直接回答，斯特凡诺普洛斯说这是一个简单的问题，只能回答是或不是。
最终，斯特凡诺普洛斯在他们的交流过程中问了八次。
斯卡利斯没有回答，而是提出了一些州如何在2020年新冠肺炎疫情期间改变投票规则的问题。
斯特凡诺普洛斯反驳说，各种法院都驳回了上次总统竞选中的欺诈指控。
“所以你拒绝明确地说2020年的选举没有被窃取?”他又问。
“你想继续老调重弹2020。我们在谈论未来，”斯卡利斯回应道。
尽管拒绝回答，斯卡利斯重申了共和党对拜登政府的批评。
“归根结底，让我们的国家回到正轨是我们的重点。这就是我们现在关注的焦点，”他说。
“乔·拜登是美国总统，”斯卡利斯接着说，“现在，他在许多对家庭至关重要的方面辜负了国家。”
弗吉尼亚州共和党州长格伦·扬金在斯卡利斯之后出现在“本周”还被问及2020选举。
“我一直说乔·拜登是合法当选的总统。他正在白宫睡觉，”杨金说。“我希望他不是。”
Scalise defends IRS cuts in GOP's Israel aid bill, refuses to say 2020 election was legitimate
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on Sunday defended Republicansseeking to send aid to Israelin its war with Hamas by cutting funding for the IRS to enforce tax collections, including from the wealthy.
"We passed a bill that addressed two problems that our Defense Department talks about: One, we need to get aid to Israel, and we do; but when our generals come and testify before committees like Armed Services, they say our debt is our biggest national threat. Not other countries like China, Russia -- they say it's our debt. We addressed both in this bill in a bipartisan vote," Scalise told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.
On Thursday, most House Republicans were joined by 12 Democrats in passing the $14 billion Israel aid package, which was offset by roughly the same cuts to the IRS. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said his chamber isn't even going to take it up.
Stephanopoulos pressed Scalise on the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis that the GOP-led funding bill for Israel in the House would add $12.5 billion to the government's deficit, largely because it would reduce the ability of the IRS to enforce tax collections.
The agency saw a major funding increase in last year's Inflation Reduction Act, despite conservative criticism.
"You've tied the aid to Israel to cuts in IRS enforcement, which is designed to go after wealthy tax cheats. Why combine those two? Is the new speaker prepared to put clean funding for Israel on the floor of the House?" Stephanopoulos asked Scalise on Sunday.
Scalise responded that according to the CBO, families making less than $400,000 annually also would be paying more taxes to the IRS because the agency had received more funding, which he said undercut a pledge by President Joe Biden.
The CBO said in 2022, in a letter to lawmakers, that the increased taxes paid by those families making less than $400,000 would "be a small fraction of the total increase," though they could not predict a precise number.
Scalise also pushed back on the Israel aid bill growing the deficit, insisting that "the CBO has been wrong on a number of fronts."
"We passed the bill to give the aid to Israel and it was a bipartisan vote and it's over in the Senate. If the Senate has an issue with the bill, they can take it up. If they sent it to the president, I have no doubt the president would sign that bill," Scalise said, despite the White House already saying President Joe Biden would veto the legislation.
Support for Israelin the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 terror attackwas key, he said: "It's going to be a long war, and it's a conflict that we are with Israel on every step of the way."
Scalise was separately pressed about whether he viewed the 2020 presidential election as legitimate following Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck's announcement last week that he would be retiring, citingconservatives' focus on election denialism.
In his retirement announcement, Buck said: "Too many Republican leaders are lying to America, claiming that the 2020 election was stolen."
Stephanopoulos asked Scalise on "This Week": "Can you say unequivocally the 2020 election was not stolen?"
That prompted a back-and-forth as the majority leader repeatedly declined to answer directly, with Stephanopoulos saying it was a simple question with a yes or no answer.
Ultimately, Stephanopoulos asked eight times over the course of their exchange.
Instead of answering, Scalise raised concerns with how some states changed their voting rules in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephanopoulos pushed back, noting that various courts had all rejected claims of fraud in the last presidential race.
"So you just refuse to say unequivocally that the 2020 election was not stolen?" he asked again.
"You want to keep rehashing 2020. We're talking about the future," Scalise responded.
While declining to answer, Scalise reiterated Republican criticism of the Biden administration.
"At the end of the day, getting our country back on track is our focus. And that's what we're focused on right now," he said.
"Joe Biden's the president of the United States," Scalise went on to say, "and right now, he's failing the country on so many fronts that matter to families."
Virginia's Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkinappeared on "This Week" after Scaliseand was also asked about the 2020 election.
"I've consistently said that Joe Biden was legitimately elected president. He's sleeping in the White House," Youngkin said. "I wish he weren't."
