Support for Israel is seemingly becoming a partisan issue in Congress.
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives rejected an amendment that would have eliminated $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel. But the vote count told its own story: Nearly half the Democratic Caucus broke from party leadership to support it, while Republicans stayed almost entirely unified against it.
‘They’re the biggest welfare recipient of the United States and have been for many years.’
The amendment to the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for 2027, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), would have barred any funds in the bill from being spent on Israel.
Ahead of the vote, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) laid out his position in a “Dear Colleague” letter: He would vote no because the amendment was “overly broad,” warning it would also cut off funding for humanitarian aid, refugee resettlement, and embassy operations and make it harder to counter Hamas and Hezbollah.
House Democratic Whip Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.) broke with Jeffries publicly. In her statement, she agreed that the amendment was “overly broad” and called it “stunts from congressional Republicans who would rather score cheap political points than lead” — but reached the opposite conclusion.
“However, it is clear that the status quo is not tenable. We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests, and values,” Clark said. “The Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard. I will be voting yes … because I believe we must change course.”
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ierney L. Cross/Bloomberg/Getty Images
In the end, 103 Democrats joined Massie in voting yes — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who said she remains “committed to a strong U.S.-Israel relationship and supportive of a two-state solution,” but that the amendment “presents an unfortunate choice to the House.”
Ninety-eight Democrats joined 215 Republicans in voting no; Massie, who recently lost his House seat in the most expensive House primary in U.S. history, was the only Republican in favor. The measure failed 104-314.
In the floor debate ahead of the vote, Massie argued that the money would be better spent at home — on roads, bridges, and homeless veterans — before calling Israel “the biggest welfare recipient of the United States,” citing $310 billion in inflation-adjusted aid received over the years from American taxpayers.
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“Israel has the strongest economy in the Middle East,” he said. “Their debt per GDP is in much better shape than ours. They don’t need our money.”
Then he circled back to the word himself: “In fact, they’ve claimed recently they want to get off of the welfare, but I’m concerned that the other funding mechanisms they’re talking about — commingling our technology and supply chains — will have even less transparency than what’s going on here today.”
Massie was careful to frame the measure as part of his broader principle: “I’m opposed to all foreign aid. I didn’t pick on Israel here. I’ve offered an amendment to defund Egypt and also to defund the aid to Jordan … but I am particularly concerned this year about the foreign aid to Israel.”
That concern, he said, came down to the war itself: “American taxpayers should not be conscripted into funding the military adventures of Israel,” he said, urging the adoption of his amendment.
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