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Middle East Eye
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
MAGA acolyte Marjorie Taylor Greene votes alongside Tlaib and Omar to cut US funding for Israel
Hardline America Firster and staunch Trump supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene voted alongside progressive Democrat Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar to strip Israel of $500m in US funding, hours after it bombed the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza. The House of Representatives, however, rejected in a 422-6 vote on Thursday, to cut funding for the Israeli Cooperative Program - an agreement through which the US provides Israel with $500m to boost its missile programmes. It is a separate allocation from the $3.3bn the US sends Israel as "security assistance" every year. "Israel bombed the Catholic Church in Gaza, and that entire population is being wiped out as they continue their aggressive war in Gaza," Greene told her colleagues in a rare statement from a Republican. "My amendment would strike $500m in funding for nuclear-armed Israel's missile defence system. The US already provides Israel with $3.8bn annually in foreign aid. 3.8 billion. That's a lot of money," she said. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters "Additionally, the April 2024 security supplemental included $8.7bn for Israel, even though Israel - nuclear-armed Israel - has universal healthcare for their citizens and subsidized college for their citizens," she added. "Here in America, we're $37tn in debt. My amendment will ensure an America First department of defence, and that is exactly what we need." That security supplemental, pushed by the Biden administration, provided increased support to Israel for its Iron Dome, David's Sling, and Iron Beam defence structures - among other military backing - in response to the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. Greene had altogether introduced six amendments to reduce foreign spending in the defence appropriations bill, a massive annual funding agreement that lawmakers must pass to fund the Pentagon's operations for the following year. All of them failed. Only six members of Congress voted to withhold $500m to Israel, after 21 months of its war on Gaza, which has left more than 58,000 Palestinians dead, most of them women and children. The House ultimately approved $832bn in 2026 US military spending. 'Loyalty to a foreign country' Greene's comments on the House floor were not her first criticism of Israel's hold on Washington's policymaking. In an appearance on Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson's online show last month, she shared her frustration with what she described as a consistent attempt to appease Israel in Congress. "Since I've become a member of Congress - since 2021 - we have voted on 22 resolutions for Israel," she said. "We never vote on resolutions proclaiming great things about America, or defending certain Americans." Carlson asked Greene what had changed her mind now. "It's coming to a point where it's so obvious all the time, in everyone's language, the social media posts they put out, the statements that they make. They have to proclaim Israel. They have to proclaim their faith and loyalty in Israel," she responded. Trump's pick for UN ambassador says he'll use aid as 'leverage' for African votes Read More » "It's becoming like, wait a minute, what about our own country? What about our own people?" Citing her own children, who are in their 20s, Greene referred to the financial struggles of young Americans. "They can't afford rent. They can't afford to buy a house. They can't afford insurance. They can't buy a new car. They can't find a good-paying job," she said. "It seems hopeless for them, but then in Congress, everyone is chasing and pursuing and proclaiming their loyalty to a foreign country." Greene had disagreed with President Donald Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites in June, and took to the online programme of another leading MAGA (Make America Great Again) voice, Steve Bannon, where she insisted that "We are bombing Iran on behalf of Israel," and that "Fox News brainwashes all the baby boomers" as it cheerleads US wars. It has become clearer that the MAGA branch of the Republican Party is mounting an anti-war campaign that goes so far as to align itself with the progressive left. Both Carlson and Bannon, both of whom have long had the president's ear, have recently made their critical views known on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and war with Iran to their combined millions of listeners. "I grew up in a world that espoused violence. That's what the US government does," Carlson told Bannon last month.
The Hill
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Greene knocks Republicans, Democrats after all her defense funding amendments fail
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) early Friday blasted her Republican and Democratic colleagues after all six of her amendments to the House's defense appropriations bill failed. The lower chamber advanced the legislation, which allocates around $832 billion in funding for Department of Defense (DOD) programs for fiscal 2026 in a vote overnight. Greene's amendment to cut funding for the Israeli Cooperative Program — an agreement through which the U.S. provides Israel $500 million for programs for missile defense — was shot down in a 6-422 vote. The amendment garnered support from Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and a group of progressive Democrats: Reps. Al Green (Texas), Summer Lee (Pa.), Ilhan Omar (Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) Additionally, the Georgia Republican's amendment to bar funds in the bill from being used for assistance to Ukraine was not approved, getting rejected in a 76-353 vote. All 76 lawmakers who backed the amendment were House Republicans. 'Tonight all of my amendments to cut $1.6 billion of foreign aid out of our Defense budget failed because both Republicans and Democrats refuse to stop sending your hard earned tax dollars to foreign countries,' Greene wrote in a post on social media platform X. 'For example, $118 million to foreign countries for disaster relief like floods that haven't even happened yet,' the lawmaker added. 'And $15 million for AIDS education activities for soldiers in Africa. I mean can't they figure that out by now? And my amendment to stop sending money to Ukraine. Yep that one failed too.' She also warned that the U.S. is '$37 TRILLION in debt and Congress will never ever fix it because they will never ever stop the insane out of control spending that drives inflation up and makes your life unaffordable.' The House overall passed the defense funding bill in a 221-209 vote. Three Republicans opposed it, while five Democrats joined the rest of the GOP lawmakers in getting the bill over the hump. The legislation bolsters funding for active, reserve, and National Guard by $6.6 billion over the current funding levels. If signed into law, basic pay for military personnel would increase by 3.8 percent starting next year. The bill also secured $174 billion for procurement and $283 billion for operation and maintenance, among other measures. It marks only the second appropriations bill Republicans have been advanced for fiscal 2026, as efforts to pass the now-signed ' big, beautiful bill ' full of President Trump's spending and tax priorities took up much of the party's focus in recent months.
