Congressional Dems Shift to Overwhelmingly Oppose Involvement in Israel’s War on Lebanon

Democratic Party leaders in the House reversed course and moved to back a resolution against U.S. involvement in Israel’s war on Lebanon on Tuesday, giving the bill overwhelming support from Democrats for the first time since Congress began seeking to address the conflict. The resolution sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., failed 235–189 , with near-universal opposition from Republicans. The vote was another sign of changing attitudes among Democrats about Israel. Still, the vote was another sign of changing attitudes among Democrats about Israel: 187 Democrats voted in favor of it, and only 22 voted against. Tlaib’s resolution marked the second time she has forced the House to go on the record about the war on Lebanon , which Israel says is aimed at Hezbollah but has left a fifth of the country displaced and thousands dead. Most Read Iran Claims to Kill 3 U.S. Service Members in Kuwait Nick Turse Trump’s Sanctions Against the ICC Are Unconstitutional, Rights Groups Say Noah Hurowitz Harlan Crow Maxed Out Campaign Donations to John Fetterman Akela Lacy Under the 1973 War Powers Act, any member of Congress can force a vote on U.S. involvement in hostilities. Critics of Israel suspect the U.S. military has supported Israel’s attacks on Lebanon through help with developing target lists or refueling military aircraft. (U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) On June 4, Tlaib’s first attempt to pass a war powers resolution about Lebanon failed on a 324–92 vote. House Democratic leaders opposed that earlier resolution because of what they said were drafting errors that might have inadvertently forced the U.S. to stop protecting its embassy in Beirut or providing aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces, the regular military of the Lebanese government. Related The Dam Breaks: Democratic Senators Overwhelmingly Reject Arms Sales to Israel The more recent version of the legislation gained the support of Democratic leaders by including explicit carveouts for those activities. While leadership did not officially whip the vote, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., who is close to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., spoke in support of the measure on Monday. Speeches from Meeks and Tlaib, however, revealed a divide in what Democrats thought the measure might accomplish. Meeks criticized the conduct of Hezbollah and Israel alike , adding that, to his knowledge, no U.S. forces were directly involved in combat in Lebanon. The resolution would prevent the Trump administration from joining in the war, he said. We’re independent of corporate interests — and powered by members. Join us. Become a member Join Our Newsletter Thank You For Joining! Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. Will you take the next step to support our independent journalism by becoming a member of The Intercept? I'm in Become a member By signing up, I agree to receive emails from The Intercept and to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Join Our Newsletter Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you. I'm in Tlaib, meanwhile, cast the resolution as a way to cut off U.S. support for Israeli forces. She pointed to Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s call “to burn all of Lebanon” as proof of the Israeli government’s intent there. “I want to make this very, very clear: The United States is not a bystander to these war crimes,” Tlaib said. “It is an active participant. The United States is currently engaged in illegal and unauthorized hostilities supporting the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, in violation of the War Powers Act. “The United States is not a bystander to these war crimes.” “Without that support,” she added, “those jets cannot drop bombs to kill Lebanese children. Congress must reassert its constitutional authority and immediately vote to end all unauthorized U.S. participation in the destruction of Lebanon.” Only two Republicans, Reps. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, voted in favor of the resolution. The Republican caucus was officially represented during the Monday floor debate by Rep. Brian Mast , R-Fla., the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “This resolution only seeks to embolden Hezbollah. That is the only thing that it does,” Mast said. “There are no U.S. forces engaged in hostilities. Do we train Lebanese Armed Forces? Yes, we do. Do we provide intelligence? Yes, we do. But we don’t have forces engaged there.” Read Our Complete Coverage Israel’s Lebanon Blitz Ahead of the vote, Erik Sperling, the executive director of Just Foreign Policy, a group that is sharply critical of Israel, said he was pleased to see more Democrats backing Tlaib’s resolution. “Democrats have been pretty unified about speaking out against the killing of innocents and all of the harm by the Iran war, but there has been less vocal outrage about the mass killing and occupation in Lebanon,” Sperling said. “This is just an important signal that Democrats are aware of the way the Lebanon war is a humanitarian crisis and is the key roadblock to ending this war and delivering the peace that Americans are demanding.” Share Copy link Share on Facebook Share on Bluesky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT. What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government. This is not hyperbole. 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We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. Corporate news outlets have cowered, becoming accessories in Trump’s project to create a post-truth America. Right-wing billionaires have pounced, buying up media organizations and rebuilding the information environment to their liking. In this most perilous moment for democracy, The Intercept is fighting back. But to do so effectively, we need to grow. That’s where you come in. Will you help us expand our reporting capacity in time to hit the ground running in 2026? We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us? $15 $25 $50 $100 $5 $8 $10 $15 One Time Monthly Donate I’M BEN MUESSIG, The Intercept’s editor-in-chief. It’s been a devastating year for journalism — the worst in modern U.S. history. We have a president with utter contempt for truth aggressively using the government’s full powers to dismantle the free press. 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Will you help us? $15 $25 $50 $100 $5 $8 $10 $15 One Time Monthly Donate Contact the author: Matt Sledge [email protected] @sledge.41 on Signal Related The Performative Ceasefire in Gaza Momentum Builds to Rein In Domestic Spying Law — Whether or Not Bill Pulte Survives as Intel Chief Congress Is Trying to Permanently Integrate U.S. and Israeli Defense Tech Thomas Massie Loses His Seat in a Win for Trump — and AIPAC Latest Stories The War on Immigrants ICE Officers at Maine Shooting Scene Were Wearing Body Cameras. They Were Not Turned On. Karl Loftus - July 16 ICE officers were wearing body cameras they can’t turn on, four sources said. The Trump administration said there was no footage. The War on Immigrants Would-Be Platner Replacements in Maine Rally Around “Abolish ICE” (or Something Close) Noah Hurowitz - July 16 After ICE killed Maine father Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, most of the serious candidates to replace Platner called for abolishing or “dismantling” ICE. 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