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While Republicans are preoccupied with internal strife on the Jeffrey Epstein saga, Democrats are still struggling to stay unified on how to deal with the war, hostage and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Since Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, starting a prolonged war in Gaza, Democrats have been split on how to respond. That split remained evident on Wednesday when the Senate voted against a pair of resolutions to block arms sales to Israel — with 20 Democrats opposing the measure despite it being led by one of their one: Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
For the most part, there’s been a bipartisan coalition expressing support for Israel as Republicans largely back the U.S. ally. Meanwhile, there’s been a faction of Democrats who have remained supportive of Palestinians throughout the conflict.
But the support for Israel is wearing thin among some more moderate Democratic members — and that became evident during Wednesday’s vote.
Only 27 of the 47 Senate Democrats voted in favor of blocking arms sales to Israel. But that’s the highest number of Democrats to vote that way since Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., started introducing these types of resolutions over the last two years.
For comparison: Only 10 Democrats voted to block these sales when they were brought up in January.
That vote made one thing clear: Moderate Democrats with a history of supporting Israel are starting to lose their patience as more reports are released showing a growing hunger crisis in Gaza.
“Israel has the responsibility to allow humanitarian aid in — just as the US had the responsibility to allow aid into places like Fallujah,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said in a post on X earlier this month. “And if President (Donald) Trump’s hand-picked aid organization can’t get food and medicine to people in Gaza (in) a safe way, Israel has the responsibility to find one that can.”
But not all Democrats are on the same page.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., just this week told NBC: “I’m gonna always vote Israel.” He voted against blocking arms sales.
And the issue is starting to extend beyond Democrats. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., turned heads this week when she became the first Republican lawmaker to characterize what’s happening in Israel as a “genocide.”
“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza,” Greene said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump also entered the fray this week to say there is “real starvation” happening in Gaza, contradicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The shifts in tone come as Trump and his administration officials continue pushing for a ceasefire, with the president calling on Hamas to surrender and release all of its hostages. Trump took further steps this week when he announced he would send Steve Witkoff, U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, to inspect aid distribution in the country.
Stories Driving the Week
- Dems hammer on Epstein: Senate Democrats invoked an obscure and rarely used law on Wednesday, compelling the Department of Justice to release all files related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
- Recess recall: Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is urging his Senate colleagues to cancel August recess and continue confirming President Donald Trump’s administrative and judicial nominees — or leave town completely to allow the president to appoint his chosen candidates without Senate approval.
- No Gov. Harris: Former Vice President Kamala Harris will not run for California governor after giving the decision some serious thought in the months since leaving the White House. Read more from my colleague Gitanjali Poonia.
Senate Republicans hit with unfriendly fire
A pair of GOP senators were caught by surprise when they found themselves in the crossfire of Trump’s frustration — and mostly by mistake.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was the first to be hit by a Truth Social tirade late Tuesday night when Trump railed against him for honoring a long-held Senate tradition allowing for blue-slip objections to judicial nominees.
Long story short: Grassley upheld the obscure rule that allows Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to block the nomination of a judge in his home state. That, unsurprisingly, angered Trump — prompting him to take it out on Grassley, who he accused of being a “RINO,” or a “Republican in name only.”
Grassley expressed his disappointment with the attack, saying he was “disappointed” and “offended” by the remarks.
“I was surprised to see President Trump on Truth Social go after me and Senate Republicans over what we call the blue slip,” Grassley said. “I was offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed it would result in personal insults.”
But Grassley wasn’t the only one. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., also found himself at the center of an online rant on Wednesday after pushing for a ban on congressional stock trading.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee narrowly voted to advance a bill that would prohibit lawmakers and their family members from selling or trading stocks while in office, and the proposal included updated language that would rope presidents and vice presidents into the restrictions as well.
As you can imagine, Trump was not too happy about that.
Trump then went on to call Hawley a “a second-tier Senator” who was “playing right into the dirty hands of the Democrats.”
Hawley responded on Thursday, telling reporters he spoke with the president to further explain the bill — and even said that some Republicans had lied to Trump about what the proposal would actually do.
“Senators — I don’t know who — had called and told him yesterday afternoon that the bill had changed at the last minute and would force him to sell all of his assets, sell Mar-a-Lago, sell his properties,” Hawley said on Thursday. “That’s just false.”
While those two instances seem to have been cleared up for now, there was some interesting rhetoric that caught my eye as I pored over the posts.
In both rants, Trump seemed to take credit for the senators’ careers.
For Grassley, who he says “I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot.” And then for Hawley, who “I got elected TWICE.”
Does it mean anything? Not sure. But I find it interesting in the context of Trump’s habit of threatening primary challenges when Republicans break with his agenda.
We’ll see if it actually amounts to anything.
Quick Hits
From the Hill: Democrats sue ICE after being denied access to immigration facilities. … Texas redraws maps to secure 5 or more Republican House seats. … Ghislaine Maxwell requests immunity in exchange for testimony.
From the White House: Highlights of Trump’s trip to Scotland. … Has the sports world embraced Trump?
From the courts: Chief judge faces misconduct probe after DOJ complaint. … Federal judge blocks Medicaid defunding of Planned Parenthood.
What’s next
We are eagerly waiting to see if the Senate will indeed stay in town to continue its work over the August recess. The House is out and will stay that way.
Meanwhile, I’ll be heading back to Utah next week to meet up with members of the delegation on their home turf. Have questions for your representatives? Drop me a line.
As always, feel free to reach out to me by email with story ideas or questions you have for lawmakers. And follow me on X for breaking news and timely developments from the Hill.