Newsweek35%
List of Democrats Voting Against Cut to Israel Aid as Base Turns on Ally 8%
By Mandy Taheri0%
7/15/2026, 9:33:48 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 25 faulty reasoning types, including Ambiguity (Equivocation), Hasty Generalization, and Negativity Bias, with Confirmation Bias as the most egregious example at 7.4% saturation with 127 hits. Analysis detected 1,323 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,705 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 25.1% and a BS Rank of 8% (15,233 of 16,550 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 92.00% of the article peer group.
Dozens of House Democrats voted against an amendment from Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, to cut annual United States military assistance to Israel on Wednesday.
The amendment to eliminate $3.3 billion in annual U.S. military assistance to Israel did not garner enough support to pass.
But the vote, which split Democratic leadership and the party, with 103 in favor and 98 against, highlights divisions within the Democratic Party over Washington’s support for its longtime ally amid Israel's war in Gaza.
Public opinion among Democratic voters has moved against additional U.S. assistance to Israel.
A New York Times/Siena College poll conducted in May found that 74 percent of Democrats opposed providing further military and economic aid to Israel, while just 8 percent said they strongly supported additional assistance.
Among potential Democratic supporters, 48 percent of voters said that Democrats have been “too supportive of Israel,” 8 percent say not supportive enough, and 34 percent believe the about the right amount of support.
The poll of 1,507 registered voters was conducted between May 11 and 15.
It has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
A separate Quinnipiac University poll in August 2025 found that 75 percent of Democrats opposed sending more military aid to Israel, highlighting growing divisions within the party over U.S. support for Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
Massie’s amendment would bar funds in the fiscal 2027 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill from being used for Israel and reduce the Foreign Military Financing account by $3.3 billion.
That amount represents the annual military aid Congress typically provides under the U.S.-Israel security assistance agreement.
Which Democrats Voted Against the Amendment?
The following Democratic representatives voted against the Massie amendment on Wednesday:
Representative Alma Adams
Representative Pete Aguilar
Representative Joyce Beatty
Representative Wesley Bell
Representative Sanford Bishop
Representative Brendan Boyle
Representative Nikki Budzinski
Representative Ed Case
Representative Sean Casten
Representative Kathy Castor
Representative Gil Cisneros
Representative Yvette Clarke
Representative Emanuel Cleaver
Representative James Clyburn
Representative Steve Cohen
Representative Herb Conaway
Representative Lou Correa
Representative Jim Costa
Representative Joe Courtney
Representative Angie Craig
Representative Henry Cuellar
Representative Sharice Davids
Representative Rosa DeLauro
Representative Suzan DelBene
Representative Adriano Espaillat
Representative Cleo Fields
Representative Shomari Figures
Representative Lizzie Fletcher
Representative Bill Foster
Representative Lois Frankel
Representative Laura Gillen
Representative Jared Golden
Representative Dan Goldman
Representative Jimmy Gomez
Representative Vicente Gonzalez
Representative Josh Gottheimer
Representative Adam Gray
Representative Jim Himes
Representative Steny Hoyer
Representative Hakeem Jeffries
Representative Marcy Kaptur
Representative Tim Kennedy
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi
Representative Greg Landsman
Representative Rick Larsen
Representative John Larson
Representative George Latimer
Representative Susie Lee
Representative Mike Levin
Representative Sam Liccardo
Representative Ted Lieu
Representative Lucy McBath
Representative April McClain Delaney
Representative Jennifer McClellan
Representative Kristen McDonald Rivet
Representative Gregory Meeks
Representative Rob Menendez
Representative Grace Meng
Representative Kweisi Mfume
Representative Joe Morelle
Representative Jared Moskowitz
Representative Frank Mrvan
Representative Donald Norcross
Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton
Representative Johnny Olszewski
Representative Frank Pallone
Representative Jimmy Panetta
Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez
Representative Scott Peters
Representative Nellie Pou
Representative Josh Riley
Representative Luz Rivas
Representative Raul Ruiz
Representative Brad Schneider
Representative Hillary Scholten
Representative Kim Schrier
Representative Terri Sewell
Representative Brad Sherman
Representative Eric Sorensen
Representative Darren Soto
Representative Greg Stanton
Representative Haley Stevens
Representative Marilyn Strickland
Representative Suhas Subramanyam
Representative Tom Suozzi
Representative Emilia Sykes
Representative Shri Thanedar
Representative Dina Titus
Representative Norma Torres
Representative Ritchie Torres
Representative Juan Vargas
Representative Marc Veasey
Representative Eugene Vindman
Representative James Walkinshaw
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Representative George Whitesides
Representative Nikema Williams
Representative Frederica Wilson
Democrats Who Voted 'Present'
Representative Ami Bera
Representative Shontel Brown
Representative Janelle Bynum
Representative Sarah Elfreth
Representative Jared Huffman
Representative Betty McCollum
Representative Kelly Morrison
Representative Chris Pappas
Representative Linda Sánchez
Representative Mike Thompson
What To Know About Massie’s Amendment
Massie's amendment would eliminate the $3.3 billion in annual Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel included in the FY2027 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs appropriations bill.
Massie, a vocal critic of America's support for Israel, introduced the amendment to H.R. 8595, the State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act for fiscal 2027, in late June.
The U.S. provides Israel with about $3.8 billion in military assistance annually under a 10-year agreement signed in 2016.
The package includes $3.3 billion in FMF grants and $500 million for missile defense cooperation, making Israel one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid.
The U.S. has authorized billions in emergency military assistance, particularly following Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which killed about 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages.
Israel responded with an intense military campaign in Gaza, which has killed over 73,000 Palestinians and caused mass displacement.
In April 2024, Congress passed supplemental appropriations that provided $8.7 billion to Israel.
The Kentucky Republican has long opposed foreign aid and has become one of the most outspoken Republican critics of continued U.S. military assistance abroad, as well as foreign interventions including the Iran war.
On Wednesday afternoon, 103 Democrats voted for the amendment and 98 against.
Ten Democrats voted "present."
Only one Republican, presumably Massie, voted for the amendment, with 215 voting against.
In total, the amendment received 104 yeas and 313 nays and did not pass.
The amendment comes nearly two months after Massie lost his Republican primary following repeated clashes with President Donald Trump over issues including U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts and the administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
What Democrats Said Ahead of the Vote
Ahead of the Wednesday vote, some Democrats announced their opposition to the amendment, including Representative Sam Liccardo, who called the amendment "flawed and overbroad."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a letter obtained by The New York Times that there were "more decisive ways to achieve the urgent change necessary" regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He also said that House Republican leaders are “trying to weaponize an amendment they do not support for nakedly partisan reasons."
Senator John Fetterman warned that the Democratic party was "becoming more anti-Israel and hostile to people" who are pro-Israel.
"My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel," he said at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington D.C. on Wednesday.
"If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that's when I would leave because that's been a moral clarity for me."
However, several Democrats expressed their support for the amendment, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said in a statement, "The United States must be a force for security and stability.
The American people are rightly demanding an end to a perpetual cycle of war, and the Netanyahu government cannot maintain its current course.
Therefore, while this amendment is ill-conceived, I vote yes for the message that it sends."
Representative Seth Moulton, a Massachusetts Democrat, said ahead of the vote that Israel is "acting against America's national security interests" and against "its own long-term interests as well."
Therefore, continuing unconditional assistance would be condoning an unacceptable status quo.”
"Withholding these funds would not leave Israel defenseless.
Israel has a nearly $50B defense budget and Congress also gave Israel an additional $9B over and above annual appropriations in 2024," Moulton added.
Another Massachusetts Democrat, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, who voted for the measure, said ahead of the vote that America shouldn't give any country a "blank check" if they aren't complying with American laws, interests and values.
"The Netanyahu government has failed to meet that standard," Clark said.
U.S.
Changing Views on Israel
The U.S. is a close ally of Israel, providing billions in military aid and diplomatic support for years.
Public opinion in the U.S., however, has shifted since October 7, 2023.
Recent polling shows that America has become much more divided over U.S. support for Israel, which has historically had significant support.
A June AP-NORC poll found that 58 percent of Democrats said the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, up from 45 percent in January 2024, while 60 percent of Republicans said the current level of U.S. support is "about right."
Overall, 31 percent of U.S. adults said they believe Israel's military actions in Gaza constitute genocide, while 49 percent said they did not know enough to say and 20 percent said they did not believe they constitute genocide.
The survey also found Democrats have become increasingly supportive of Palestinians while support for Israel has declined within the party.
Sixty-two percent of Democrats said the U.S. is not supportive enough of Palestinians, up from 49 percent in January 2024.
The survey of 3,040 adults was conducted between June 11-17, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.
A smaller subset of the AP-NORC poll looked into Jewish Americans' views.
Among Jewish Americans, the poll found that Netanyahu's favorability among Jewish adults is 32 percent compared to a 59 percent unfavorable rating.
The poll also shows that 38 percent of respondents think the United States is too supportive of Israelis versus 24 percent who feel the U.S. is too supportive of Palestinians.
When asked if they think Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians, 30 percent of Jewish adults say yes, compared to 49 percent who say no, while 21 percent say they don't know enough to render an answer.
The study was conducted from June 11 to June 17 among 1,022 Jewish adults, with a 5 percent margin of error.
A Pew Research survey of 12,574 Americans conducted May 4-17 found that Americans' view of the Israeli government has significantly decreased since 2022, when 65 percent of Republicans had a favorable view of the Israeli government compared to 35 percent of Democrats.
The latest survey found 51 percent of Republicans do and 16 percent of Democrats.
A May Reuters/Ipsos poll found Israel's favorability rating among Democrats had fallen from 59 percent in 2018 to 22 percent.
Wednesday's vote shows that at least some Democrats, particularly progressives, are increasingly willing to break with their party's traditional support for Israel.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Sam Wilson.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.