House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has agreed to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.
Johnson told The Independent that Schumer intends to sign the letter of invitation and that Netanyahu has agreed in principle, with a date and time yet to be nailed down.
"I spoke with him today, and he's going to sign the letter jointly, and it'll get out to the prime minister this week," Johnson told The Independent on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Johnson vowed to invite Netanyahu even if Schumer didn't agree, saying, "We're going to proceed and invite Netanyahu just to the House." He gave Schumer a deadline of Wednesday to sign on.
Schumer on Tuesday confirmed that he was talking to Johnson.
"As I've always said, our relationship with Israel is ironclad. It transcends any one prime minister or president," Schumer told reporters at his weekly news conference."
Some Democrats and progressives were urging Schumer not to sign the invitation.
"I think it's a strange time to invite Netanyahu, it's a really divisive kind of move," Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., told Axios.
Said Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., "I don't think it's a good time ... let's not complicate an already complicated situation."
Netanyahu has given three speeches to a joint session of Congress, most recently in 2015, tied with Britain's Winston Churchill for the most, according to Reuters.
However, this time, Netanyahu is the face of global controversy over his campaign in Gaza to root out the terrorist group Hamas in the aftermath of its massacre in Israel beginning Oct. 7. Even Schumer has called for Netanyahu to be replaced via special elections in Israel and been critical of Israel's execution of war against Hamas.