House Democrats split sharply this afternoon on Democrats Israel, with an amendment to cut off U.S. aid to Israel failing 104-314. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voted against the measure and called it "overly broad," while House Minority Whip Katherine Clark voted for it.
Jeffries and Clark split
The vote laid out the divide inside the party’s leadership. Clark said, "It is clear that the status quo is not tenable," and added, "We should not provide a blank check for military aid to any country that does not comply with U.S. law, interests, and values." Jeffries took the opposite side, joining those who rejected the amendment from Thomas Massie.
That split mattered because it came from the top of the House Democratic leadership, not just from rank-and-file lawmakers. Pete Aguilar and Ted Lieu voted against the amendment, while Nancy Pelosi and Joe Neguse voted for it.
Thomas Massie amendment vote
The amendment’s defeat was not close in the final tally, but the Democratic vote was fractured. 103 Democrats joined Thomas Massie in voting yes, 98 Democrats joined 215 Republicans in voting no, and 10 Democrats voted "present." That left House Democrats publicly divided on whether to keep U.S. aid flowing to Israel at all.
Ami Bera, a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Intelligence committees, said he would vote "present" because he does not "condone the Netanyahu government’s conduct of the war in Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis, its actions in Lebanon, its failure to confront escalating settler violence in the West Bank, and its role in drawing the United States into the current war with Iran."
House Democrats and Israel aid
The vote came as the party continues to show disagreement over how to handle U.S. relations with Israel. The numbers showed that the split was not confined to one wing of House Democrats; lawmakers around the caucus took three different positions on the same amendment.
What the vote changed today is the public record of that split. The amendment failed, so the immediate policy line stayed in place, but the leadership divide and the 103 Democratic yes votes now give House Democrats a clear benchmark for the next fight over aid to Israel.
