SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
greg casar
Progressive Caucus Leader Backs Amendment to Cut Off Billions in US Military Aid to Israel
"The Israeli government committed war crimes in Gaza and helped drag America into war with Iran," said Rep. Greg Casar. "Americans should not be financing more weapons for Netanyahu."
Jun 30, 2026
The chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Monday expressed support for an amendment that would cut off $3.3 billion in US military assistance to Israel, pointing to atrocities in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's role in pushing the Trump administration to launch an illegal war against Iran.
"Soon, the House will vote on an amendment to block taxpayer funding to Israel’s military. I will vote yes," Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) wrote on social media. "The Israeli government committed war crimes in Gaza and helped drag America into war with Iran. Americans should not be financing more weapons for Netanyahu."
The amendment, led by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), is expected to get a floor vote as soon as this week as part of debate over an annual appropriations bill for national security and the US State Department. The amendment states that "none of the funds made available under this act shall be obligated or expended for Israel."
"The amount otherwise made available by this act for 'Foreign Military Financing Program' is hereby reduced by $3,300,000,000," the amendment adds. Under current law, Israel is set to receive $3.3 billion in annual Foreign Military Financing Program funding through 2028.
The looming vote on the amendment, which will force lawmakers on the record on continued US aid to Israel, has sparked an AIPAC lobbying campaign and significant consternation within the House Democratic caucus. During a virtual caucus call over the weekend, according to Punchbowl, "leadership-aligned Democrats panned the Massie amendment as sloppily drafted."
"Members of the center-left New Democrat Coalition, as well as Jewish lawmakers, said they were opposed," the outlet reported. "Several members alleged that Republicans allowed Massie’s amendment to reach the floor because they hoped to divide Democrats on such a contentious issue."
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Democratic lawmakers will meet in person on Tuesday to discuss the amendment.
"Congress continues to treat military funding for Israel as automatic, even as public support for unconditional aid collapses across the country."
Recent polling has found that Democratic voters overwhelmingly oppose continued US military support for Israel, which has used American weaponry to commit grave war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories. A United Nations report published last week found that the Israeli military has deliberately targeted children in Gaza and "wiped out entire families across two or three or even four generations."
In his social media post on Monday, Casar acknowledged concerns voiced by some of his Democratic colleagues that the Massie amendment, as written, "may cut off both military weapons (~$3.3 billion) and some diplomatic funding (~$50 million)."
"While I would prefer to vote on an amendment that stripped just military funding," Casar wrote, "I think opposing the billions in military funding is what’s most important here."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who sits on the Congressional Progressive Caucus' executive board, told Drop Site on Monday that she would support Massie's amendment.
"In my community, in my district, the conclusion is pretty clear," said Ocasio-Cortez, who is leading a separate amendment to the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act that would bar the transfer of any US weaponry to other nations absent "congressional authorization and written presidential assurances that the recipient country is not restricting the transport or delivery of humanitarian assistance and is complying with international law."
🔸Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) tells Drop Site she will vote for Rep. Thomas Massie’s amendment to the FY2027 State Department appropriations bill that would prohibit funds under the bill from being spent on Israel and eliminate the $3.3 billion Foreign Military Financing… https://t.co/kpfeYYPJ55 pic.twitter.com/WHSkJKV8DT
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 30, 2026
Urging House lawmakers to vote yes, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said the Massie amendment provides an opportunity for "a rare recorded vote on whether members of Congress will continue sending billions of US taxpayer dollars to the Israeli military, or finally begin ending America’s role in funding Israel’s genocides in Palestine and Lebanon, and endless aggressions in Yemen, Syria, Iran, and beyond."
"For years, Americans have watched US weapons, US tax dollars, and US diplomatic cover enable Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians, its attacks on neighboring countries, and its efforts to drag the United States into Israel’s forever wars," the group said. "Yet Congress continues to treat military funding for Israel as automatic, even as public support for unconditional aid collapses across the country."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Vote for Cruelty and Corruption': House Republicans Approve $70 Billion in New Funding for ICE and DHS
“Congressional Republicans gifting ICE with billions of extra dollars of funding while Americans are struggling to make ends meet is an outrage," said one critic of the Trump-backed move.
Jun 09, 2026
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday narrowly approved nearly $70 billion in new funding for US Department of Homeland Security agencies responsible for the Trump administration's anti-immigrant crackdown, a move denounced by Democrats and advocacy groups.
The Secure America Act—a budget reconciliation bill approved last week by the Senate, where it was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)—passed the House by a vote of 214-212. Every Republican present voted for the bill, while every Democrat in the chamber and Independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California voted against it.
The legislation provides funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) through the end of President Donald Trump's term. The bill now heads to Trump's desk for his signature.
"In the final months of their House majority, House Republicans are doubling down on their failed approach: blank checks for ICE and not one cent to make things cheaper for working families," Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said following Tuesday's vote.
"The day after threatening to cut Social Security and Medicare, they are sending billions to Trump’s mass deportation machine—which still has $100 billion sitting in the bank," he added. "The Republican Congress is a disaster for working Americans. When Democrats take back power, we must repeal this funding.”
Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said on X: "The House GOP just voted to give ICE and CBP $70 BILLION. Instead of investing in you and ensuring you can afford your healthcare, groceries, or rent—they chose to hand $70 BILLION to agencies operating without any guardrails while terrorizing and brutalizing our communities."
Civil society groups also blasted House Republicans after the vote.
“Congressional Republicans gifting ICE with billions of extra dollars of funding while Americans are struggling to make ends meet is an outrage," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, which decried what it called "a vote for cruelty and corruption."
“Trump’s ICE has proven that it is dangerous and out of control," Gilbert added. "Today’s vote is... a vote against the Constitution and the safety of our communities and neighbors. Shame on congressional Republicans for ramrodding through this egregious funding.”
FWD.us President Todd Schulte said, "At a time when voters remain rightly outraged at ICE, providing hundreds of billions of dollars to ICE and CBP to terrorize communities and tear families apart while the cost of living rises and healthcare funding is slashed is both a stunning policy failure, and incredibly unpopular with voters."
ACLU senior policy counsel Kate Voigt said in a statement that "it is unconscionable that the House would vote to write yet another blank check for ICE and Border Patrol’s campaign of chaos without any reforms. Over the past several months we’ve seen these abusive agencies kill our neighbors, harass and racially profile people, and tear thousands of families apart."
More than 50 people have died in DHS custody since Trump returned to office, with experts asserting that many of the deaths were preventable. Detained immigrants have reported beatings and sexual abuse, medical neglect, hunger and inedible food, and denial of access to attorneys, and other mistreatment.
DHS officers have killed Americans Renee Good and Alex Pretti and Mexican national Silverio Villegas González, and have wounded numerous other people during Trump's second term.
ICE detainees across the nation are resisting abuse in detention centers across the nation through hunger strikes and other civil disobedience, as well as via lawsuits.
Keep ReadingShow Less
‘Big News’: Hawaii Targets Citizens United With Law Clarifying Corporations Are Not People
"The far-right Supreme Court hijacked the Constitution to let corporations spend in our elections. But we are not powerless. We can fight back," said US Rep. Greg Casar.
May 15, 2026
The state of Hawaii has passed a law that poses a direct challenge to the infamous 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which opened the door to unlimited corporate spending in US elections.
Democratic Hawaii Gov. Josh Green on Thursday signed into law a bill that takes aim at the court's ruling that corporations are effectively people with full free speech rights who can face no limits on what they can contribute to political organizations.
As explained by More Perfect Union, the law, which is set to take effect next July, classifies corporations as "artificial persons" who do not have a constitutional right to make political donations.
"The bill could limit the influence of super PACs," noted More Perfect Union, "and be a model to challenge the influence of money in politics."
Democratic Hawaii state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, a supporter of the law, said on Thursday he was proud that Hawaii has become "the first state in the nation" to take direct action challenging Citizens United.
"As elected leaders, we do not serve artificial entities," Keohokalole said. "We serve the people."
“We do not serve artificial entities. We serve the people.” @SenatorJarrett on Hawaii making history by getting dark and corporate money out of politics. #CitizensUnited pic.twitter.com/Se6HQyvRu8
— American Progress (@amprog) May 14, 2026
US Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, hailed the law as "big news" that should inspire opponents of limitless corporate political spending across the US.
"The far-right Supreme Court hijacked the Constitution to let corporations spend in our elections," said Casar. "But we are not powerless. We can fight back."
The new law passed despite opposition from Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, who argued that defending it in court could be difficult and expensive.
The law's passage earned praise from campaign finance watchdogs who have long called for overturning Citizens United and reestablishing guardrails for corporate cash in US democracy.
Michael Beckel, who directs the Money in Politics project for the advocacy group Issue One, said the Hawaii law is a "model for the country" that other states should rush to emulate.
"This measure... is among the most innovative and impactful ideas to curb corporate and dark money spending in campaigns since the Supreme Court’s disastrous Citizens United ruling in 2010," Beckel said. "Those looking to bring more transparency and accountability to elections should embrace this powerful proposal and follow Hawaii’s lead."
End Citizens United, the nonprofit campaign finance reform organization dedicated to overturning the 2010 Supreme Court ruling, also pushed other states to look at Hawaii's law as a roadmap for their own legislation.
"Hawaii has provided a blueprint for how to prevent super PACs from spending dark money by passing state law," the group said in a social media post. "Let this win be a testament to the ability states have to put power back in the hands of everyday people by neutralizing the effects of the Citizens United ruling."
Tom Moore, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, praised the Hawaii law in an interview with The Associated Press, calling it "a brave and bold step to get corporate and dark money out of America’s politics" that "will send a powerful message that will be heard loud and clear across the Pacific and across the mainland."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular