A measure to prevent any State Department funding from going to Israel failed by a decisive margin in a House vote on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The vote exposed deep divisions among House Democrats, with even the party’s top two leaders taking divergent positions.
- House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and 97 other Democrats voted against the amendment, along with 215 Republicans.
- But Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) — along with 102 other Democrats and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), the measure’s sponsor — voted for it.
By the numbers: The amendment to the State Department funding bill ultimately failed in a 104-314 vote, with 10 members voting “present.”
Catch up quick: At issue for many Democrats was that the amendment made no carveout to protect non-military funding.
- Jeffries and many other Democrats who opposed it said they could not vote to cut off diplomatic funding — even if they may have issues with continued military aid to Israel.
- But others, including Clark, said they felt compelled to vote for the amendment as a signal to Israel that their actions in Gaza and Lebanon have been unacceptable.
Between the lines: Many Democrats felt political pressure to vote for the measure despite misgivings about its substance.
- Lawmakers noted that several incumbents have already been ousted this year by left-wing primary challengers who said they were insufficiently critical of Israel.
The bottom line: “The vote reflected a real antipathy toward Israel among the Democratic base,” Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs during the Obama administration, told Axios. “The base wants to terminate any relationship with Israel and that will only grow in the next Congress. It’s really stunning and it’s not going away.”
