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Over 100 Democrats voted for a House measure to cut $3.3 billion in military funding for Israel on Wednesday, marking a shift within the party even as the amendment still overwhelmingly failed to pass.
The amendment, introduced by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky), failed 104 to 314. The would have stripped the 2027 State Department and national security funding bill of a provision to grant Israel billions in foreign military financing, while also prohibiting any funds under the bill from being spent on Israel.
The amendment received 103 votes from Democrats and a lone Republican vote from Massie. Ninety-eight Democrats voted “no,” and 10 voted “present.” Two hundred-and-fifteen Republicans voted “no.”
The voting numbers represent a significant shift among Democratic politicians, who were once nearly unanimously supportive of sending U.S. aid to Israel and voted accordingly. By contrast, 194 Democrats voted for a resolution reaffirming the U.S.’s “commitment to Israel’s security” on October 25, 2023, in the early stages of its genocide in Gaza, while only 9 Democrats voted against it. A vote in 2021 to fund Israel’s Iron Dome missile interceptor system similarly garnered 210 “yes” votes from Democrats, and only 8 “no” votes.
Prominent Democrats like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (New York) voted against Massie’s measure on Wednesday. Ahead of the vote, Jeffries said he thought the measure was “overly broad.” Other Democrats used similar language about the amendment text being supposedly “overly broad” and “poorly drafted,” which was also present in pro-Israel group J Street’s statement on the legislation.
However, there were several significant defections among the caucus. The number two ranking House Democrat, Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Massachusetts) voted for the measure. Ahead of the vote, she told Politico that the amendment is a “cynical effort” to “divide people,” but still said that it’s “a chance to say clearly that the status quo is not acceptable.”
“There is no country that should be given a blank check for military aid that is not in line with our interests and values as Americans,” Clark said. Former Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-California) similarly criticized the amendment, but also voted for it.
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Meanwhile, Rep. Pat Ryan (D-New York) — who has been a staunch supporter of Israel for years — said he voted for the amendment and claimed that he no longer wants the support of pro-Israel groups like AIPAC.
“I just voted to block sending $3.3 billion of our taxpayer dollars to Netanyahu’s government. It’s wrong on every level,” said Ryan in a statement. “I expect groups like AIPAC will not support me in my future elections and frankly, I don’t want their support. Hardline stances that refuse to stand up to a corrupt and increasingly dangerous Netanyahu regime have no place in our politics.”
Advocates for Palestinian rights have noted that, while the vote marks a shift within the Democratic party, it would not have an immediate impact on Israel’s genocide in Gaza, violence in the occupied West Bank, and bombardments on Lebanon. As the House voted, Israel continued to bomb Gaza, including an airstrike that killed a mother, father, and their six-year-old daughter.
“Children are being killed on a daily basis in Gaza, and if they survive air strikes, many die of their wounds because of the lack of medical supplies and hospitals operating with severely reduced capacity,” said Al Jazeera Gaza reporter Hind Khoudary in a report on Wednesday.
“I voted YES to stop $3.3B to fund Israel’s destruction in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iran,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), the only Palestinian American in Congress. “When we need to fund healthcare, there’s no money. When we need to fund housing, there’s no money. But for the genocide of Palestinians, they find billions of dollars. This must end.”
Some Palestine solidarity advocates vowed to primary all 98 of the Democrats who voted against the amendment.
“No more weapons to Israel is a principled demand, a legal obligation, and now a political necessity for any Democrat in office,” said Margaret DeReus, executive director of the Institute for Middle East Understanding Policy Project. “Democratic lawmakers who continue to stand with AIPAC’s fringe agenda of funding to Israel, and against their voters on the moral issue of our time, are inviting a primary challenge.”
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