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.
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"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 $37 trillion 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.
"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.
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