Democrats are pushing a resolution this week to block President Donald Trump from taking further military action in Iran without congressional approval. But standing in the party’s way are three of its own members, who have together received a combined $1.7 million from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the primary pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, which is backing Trump’s military onslaught.
Amid the United States and Israel’s unprovoked bombing campaign in Iran, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) are advocating for a vote on their resolution to block any further unauthorized military action in Iran by invoking the 1973 War Powers Act, which mandates congressional approval for the president to wage war. Congress is set to vote on the matter as early as Tuesday, but the effort faces opposition from three Democrats in the House.
Those lawmakers are bankrolled by the Israel lobby, a powerful advocate for US intervention in Iran. Democratic representative Greg Landsman (D-OH), who confirmed on Saturday that he will not vote for the war powers resolution, counts AIPAC as his top donor. The organization funneled more than $350,000 to Landsman’s campaign committees in the last election cycle, more than ten times the amount of money he received from any other donor, helping him secure a win in a historically competitive district.
Both Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) said last week that they also planned to oppose the resolution, which was first proposed by Khanna and Massie in the wake of Israel and the United States’ twelve-day assault on Iran last June.
Gottheimer does not appear to have changed his position since the Trump administration launched so-called Operation Epic Fury, releasing a statement Saturday in support of the military campaign. Moskowitz has not yet said if he now plans to support the war powers effort.
Both Gottheimer and Moskowitz are…
Auteur: Katya Schwenk
