The White House did everything it could to ensure Democrats would band together and vote against the House Republican-led Israel aid bill, which ultimately failed — but it wasn’t exactly a win for President Joe Biden.
The White House was calling Democrats to whip opposition to the stand-alone bill for Israel aid, according to Axios. However, 46 Democrats bucked Biden and voted in favor, the latest display of the tension between staying loyal to the president and the party and keeping a secure hold on political careers regarding bills related to the Jewish state.
“It was a very tough vote for most,” Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) told the outlet, adding that while most Democrats “overwhelmingly” support Israel, many struggled to place their vote out of “respect for the president” and support for Ukraine.
Though Democratic leadership blasted the Israel aid bill as the work of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) playing politics with the Israel-Hamas conflict, most Democrats opted to side with the majority of Republicans in voting for the bill. However, Republicans had defections of their own, as 14 members crossed over to oppose aid, keeping the lower chamber from reaching a two-thirds majority.
The 46 Democrats who voted in support of the aid bill were roughly in line with what leadership had expected, senior Democrats told Axios. A lawmaker said the defections were a “natural instinct, for some, to support Israel,” as well as a desire to avoid falling into a “Republican trap” by voting against Israel.
“Your constituencies are not going to know all the background of how you vote. They’re going to know what you voted on and if it’s ‘yes’ or ‘no,'” Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) told the outlet.
Democrats are facing increasing pressure from pro-Israel groups, particularly lawmakers who are facing competitive primary challengers this November.
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While some of the lawmakers are progressive Democrats, such as Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who have been vocal in their support for the people in Gaza, other legislators told Axios that groups like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are becoming “very aggressive in their outreach” and that some swing district members “are just scared of them.”
“The whole point of that vote by the GOP was to try to create divisions in the Democratic caucus,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) told the outlet. “They knew … some people would not be willing to hang tough with the president because they didn’t want their vote being misrepresented.”
