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Politico
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
A Democrat in the middle of the Israel firestorm
BALANCING ACT — Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs personifies the conflict within her party over U.S. support for Israel and the nightmare in Gaza — and the increasingly precarious balancing act for any politician trying to navigate it. The third-term member of Congress from San Diego is Jewish. She has family in Israel. So the country's security is not an abstract notion. As a millennial, and the youngest member of Democratic leadership in the House, she doesn't view criticism of Israel as off the table. But she also sits on the Armed Services Committee and represents one of the nation's most military-centric districts, so she is acutely aware of Israel's security needs and its role as a key U.S. ally in the Middle East. All of those roiling elements were on full display last night, in Washington and at a town hall meeting in her district. The Senate voted down a resolution from Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) to block the sale of U.S. weapons to Israel. The measure failed, but 27 Democratic senators, more than half the caucus, voted in favor — a sign that the horrific images of starvation coming out of Gaza in recent months are starting to erode the largely unconditional support that Israel has long enjoyed among many Democrats. Jacobs says she would have voted in favor of the resolution, though she wants the U.S. to continue supporting Israel's defense, including by helping to pay for the Iron Dome missile defense system. She tried to lay out her nuanced position at the town hall, where pro-Palestinian protesters gathered noisily outside the high school auditorium in a suburban section of San Diego where the event was held. Inside, one of the first questions was what is she doing to ensure the people of Gaza are receiving humanitarian aid and whether Israel has committed genocide. Jacobs, who worked for the United Nations and State Department before she was elected to Congress in 2020, tried to thread the needle — saying that Israel 'might' have committed genocide. 'But I am not a lawyer, and that is a legal determination,' she told the restive audience. 'I think we've clearly seen serious atrocities. I think we've likely seen war crimes, and we've definitely seen forced displacement that could amount to ethnic cleansing.' Soon, members of the audience were yelling at her — and each other. Her efforts to explain her support for a ban on offensive weapons, but not for defense, were drowned out. 'Weapons are weapons,' a woman shouted. A man stood and chanted 'free free Palestine' while waving a black-and-white keffiyeh. Members of the crowd shouted back at him. After about 20 minutes, police escorted the man with the keffiyeh out of the auditorium and the town hall turned to other topics — mostly expressions of anger about various actions by President Donald Trump wrapped into a question. Jacobs said the next day that she welcomed the protests and is less worried about the politics of the issue within the Democratic Party than she is about addressing the larger issues. 'The thing that needs to be worked out is how we get unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza, and then how we get back on a path to a situation where you have two states where Israelis can live safely and securely and where Palestinians can live with dignity and autonomy and self determination,' she told POLITICO today. The bitter politics of the conflict aside, Jacobs contends there's a middle position in which people can condemn both the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and the Israeli response that authorities say has led to about 60,000 deaths, mostly civilians in Gaza. 'I truly believe both that Oct. 7 was horrible and we should be calling for the release of the remaining hostages, and that what's going on in Gaza right now is horrible, and those don't have to be mutually exclusive,' she said. 'Civilians shouldn't be blamed for their government actions, and that's true of Israeli civilians, and it's true of Palestinian civilians, and it's true of American civilians.' Despite what happened at her town hall, the protests over the war in Gaza around the U.S. have, for now at least, ebbed since last year and many Democratic voters in general have turned their attention to other issues. But it's not clear how long politicians like Jacobs, or her party, will be able to walk this precarious middle ground. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at bfox@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ben_foxed. What'd I Miss? — Witkoff and Huckabee to visit Gaza, inspect food distribution centers: Special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will visit Gaza on Friday to inspect aid distribution sites and meet with Gazans, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced today, amid intensifying global criticism of the humanitarian crisis in the region. The administration officials' planned trip into the besieged Gaza Strip comes amid escalating pressure both globally and from within MAGA circles to intervene, as well as a string of declarations from U.S. allies who plan to support Palestinian statehood ahead of a United Nations General Assembly meeting in September. — State Department sanctions Palestinian leadership organizations amid global statehood push: The State Department announced sanctions against the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority today, denying organization members visas for the United States, citing claims that the groups are 'continuing to support terrorism.' The move comes as Canada and a growing number of European countries have vowed to recognize Palestinian statehood ahead of September's United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, amid warnings from global leaders that Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip face mass starvation due to Israeli aid blockages. — Kamala Harris to release book focused on presidential campaign: Kamala Harris announced today that she will release a book recounting her 2024 campaign for the presidency. 'I believe there is value in sharing what I saw, what I learned, and what I know it will take to move forward,' the former vice president said in the announcement, posted to X. 'In writing this book, one truth kept coming back to me: sometimes, the fight takes a while.' The announcement comes just one day after Harris announced she would not run for governor in California next year, while still not closing the door on a 2028 run. — White House raising the pressure ahead of Friday tariff deadline: President Donald Trump has settled on tariff rates for most of the country's largest trading partners. The rest of the world stands in limbo. A White House official confirmed that Trump plans to sign new executive orders today imposing higher tariff rates on several countries that have been unable to reach negotiated trade agreements by his self-imposed Friday deadline. It could include a number of America's biggest trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and Taiwan. That's sent their leaders, as well as officials from other sizable economies scrambling to try and secure a last-minute deal or extension — although most are downbeat about that prospect. — Trump's tariffs get frosty reception at federal appeals court: Federal appeals court judges sharply questioned President Donald Trump's authority to impose sweeping tariffs on foreign trading partners today under an unprecedented use of emergency powers. Several judges of the Washington, D.C.-based Federal Circuit Court of Appeals repeatedly wondered how Trump could justify the broad tariffs using a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, that presidents have used to set economic sanctions and other penalties on foreign countries — but never previously tariffs. FLIPPING THE SCRIPT — Past German governments sought to temper Europe's most hardline impulses on migration. Now, under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Berlin is vying to lead Europe's anti-immigration charge. The stark shift in Germany's migration stance under its new government promises to accelerate the EU's hard-right turn on migration as the bloc prepares to implement a series of new measures aimed at drastically reducing the number of asylum seekers entering Europe — and deporting more of those who do make it. As European leaders negotiate on how to put these measures into place, those from some of the EU's most hardline countries are welcoming Germany's new role. TRADE TALKS STALL — President Donald Trump said late Wednesday that Canada's move to recognize Palestinian statehood threatened to jeopardize trade deal talks between the two countries. On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that his country intends to recognize a Palestinian state ahead of September's United Nations General Assembly, joining France and the U.K. on that path. With a Friday deadline looming to strike a deal or face steep U.S. tariffs, negotiations between Canada and the U.S. have stalled, and no deal framework has been set. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP THE WORLD'S HARDEST EXAM — Are you smart enough to get a public sector job? In India, college graduates spend years studying for job entrance exams to learn general knowledge like the pH of the human body and the largest Bauxite producing state in the country. Even though these general knowledge exams have no set schedule, lifetime public sector jobs are coveted and respected for their pension and benefits. But as the number of public sector jobs shrink and private sector roles aren't growing to meet graduation numbers, the competition for jobs has reached new levels. In the most recent round of exams for the Ministry of Railways, about 30 million people applied for 90,000 spots. Harriet Shawcross and Dipanjan Sinha report on the world of Indian job entrance exams for The Economist. Parting Image Jacqueline Munis contributed to this newsletter. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Epoch Times
28-07-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Bipartisan Senators Urge Apple, Google to Remove China-Owned VPN Apps
A bipartisan group of senators has called on Apple and Google to remove China-owned virtual private networks, or VPNs, from their app stores, warning that these apps pose a threat to U.S. national security due to their ties to China's military. Sens. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), both serving on the Armed Services Committee, sent a letter dated July 24 to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. The lawmakers expressed concern that some Chinese VPN apps are linked to Qihoo 360, a Chinese cybersecurity company that was added to the Commerce Department's economic blacklist for supporting the procurement of items for use by the Chinese military.
CBS News
22-07-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Colorado Congressman Jason Crow secures provisions in Defense Department's budget bill to help Coloradans
Colorado Congressman Jason Crow is hailing the House's passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. A member of the Armed Services Committee and former Army Ranger, Crow lobbied for several provisions in the annual defense budget bill including dental coverage for National Guard members and reservists, more resources for a Colorado-based project that tracks space junk to make sure it doesn't hit communication satellites, and enhanced technology to prevent and treat traumatic brain injuries in active duty soldiers and veterans. "If you're firing off large artillery pieces, you know, the noise and the percussion from that, has an impact on your brain. If you're flying a fighter jet, the Gs, the gravity, the vibration, the noise from that also impacts your brain. We know that now. People used to write that off as post-traumatic stress or depression or other issues. We now know, this is an actual brain injury and it can be treated as such," said Crow. The bill provides about $832 billion for the Department of Defense, including $13 billion for missile defense and space programs and a 3.8 percent raise for all military personnel. The Senate still needs to pass its defense budget bill. Then, a conference committee will reconcile the differences between the measures from each chamber.
USA Today
11-07-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Senators want safeguards on Hegseth meddling with Ukraine aid in new defense bill
WASHINGTON − Senators want more funding for Ukraine and safeguards against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth meddling with Ukraine aid after the Pentagon temporarily shut down some weapons deliveries to the war-torn country earlier this month. Senators on the Armed Services Committee want to send $500 million on military aid to Ukraine every year through 2028 – a $200 million increase from years past, according to a summary of their request for the annual defense policy bill released on July 11. Congressional authorization for funding to Ukraine expires this year. The bill "reaffirms that it is the policy of the United States to assist Ukraine" with its defense against Russia and to "bolster" its military for that purpose. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat on the committee from New Hampshire, said she added language to the bill to prevent "diversion of military equipment obligated for Ukraine after the Pentagon's misguided decision." The provisions "put guardrails on Secretary Hegseth's harmful make sure promised military assistance continues to flow to Ukraine," she said in a statement. The bill easily cleared the committee on July 9, with just one senator voting against. Hegseth shut down weapons deliveries to Ukraine in early July, saying it was part of a broad "review" to make sure Pentagon stockpiles hadn't dwindled too low. Among the weapons held up in the pause were Patriot missiles and other key air defense weapons. Russian drone and missile attacks have increased in recent days to levels unprecedented in the more-than-three-year conflict. Less than a week after Hegseth suspended them, deliveries abruptly started up again after President Donald Trump said Ukraine needed weapons to defend itself and lashed out at Vladimir Putin with the harshest language he's yet directed at the Russian leader. Senators also want to require Hegseth to continue the Pentagon's intelligence sharing with Ukraine, according to a summary of the approved bill. The Trump administration temporarily paused all Ukraine aid, including intelligence sharing, after and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's contentious exchange in the Oval Office in late February. Trump has not requested or designated any new funds for Ukraine, but he is reportedly considering another aid package, according to Reuters and other outlets. Of the money allotted by former President Joe Biden, $3.86 billion remains, which is separate from the funds allocated by Congress. House bill bars Trump from diverting Ukraine funds without 'declaration' Meanwhile, a "mark-up" of the House version of the defense bill by Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican Armed Services Committee chair, renews funding to Ukraine, but without the Senate's $200 million increase. But that version would also bar Trump from spending or reallocating funds for Ukraine without handing Congress a "written determination that doing so is in the national interest of the United States." It would require Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to submit regular reports on "allied and partner support to Ukraine." Rogers said in a statement after the pause on weapons deliveries ended that "President Trump is right that now is not the time to pause U.S. military aid to support Ukraine's defense."
Reuters
11-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Senate panel approves $500 million aid for Ukraine in defense bill
WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved $500 million in security assistance for Ukraine as part of its draft language for its Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, which also restricts A-10 aircraft retirements. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is an annual policy bill that authorizes funding levels and provides authorities for the U.S. military. It ensures that American forces have the necessary resources to carry out their missions and is closely watched by weapons makers like Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), opens new tab and Boeing Co (BA.N), opens new tab. The NDAA, passed by the Senate Armed Services Committee with a vote of 26-1 on July 9, 2025, includes a provision to extend the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative through 2028, increasing authorized funding to $500 million from $300 million in 2025. The initiative aims to bolster Ukraine's defense capabilities as it battles Russian forces which invaded in 2022. The bill also prohibits a controversial request made in President Donald Trump's June budget request to retire the Air Force A-10 fleet. The draft requires that the inventory of the A-10 cannot drop below 103 aircraft in FY26, ensuring the continued operation of these close air support planes. The draft of the bill will make its way through the legislative process in the coming months. The lower House of Representatives kept Ukraine support at $300 million in its version. The NDAA supports a total of $925 billion in funding for national defense, with $878.7 billion allocated to the Department of Defense and $35.2 billion to the Department of Energy. The bill also allows for up to $6 billion in general transfer authority for unforeseen higher-priority needs. In addition to Ukraine, the NDAA addresses various global security challenges, including threats from China, Iran, and North Korea. It emphasizes the need for technological advancements in areas such as artificial intelligence, unmanned technology, and hypersonic weapons to maintain U.S. military superiority.
