The House Rules Committee canceled a planned vote on an amendment to block US funding to Israel's military on Tuesday, after intense debate among House Democrats.
Rep. Ro Khanna, co-sponsor of the bill, announced on X/Twitter that Congress had blocked the vote, despite previous reports that the House Rules Committee had marked the amendment as “Made in Order,” meaning it was approved to receive floor consideration and a vote.
"It is unconscionable to not even have a vote," Khanna stated. "We will be continuing on and will not be intimidated by the pro-Israel lobby."
One Democrat told Axios that the bill, bipartisanly sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie and Khanna, was "poorly drafted."
As written, the source explained, the bill could block both military and diplomatic funding to Israel.
Democratic Party faces debate on Israel support
Another source said that much of the force behind the bill comes from a debate on whether to cut support for Israel out of the Democratic Party.
"Both sides got expressed," one Democrat said. "You had different members who are going to vote for it, some against it."
Rep. Julie Johnson described the debate on Israel support as a "controversial issue."
"As you would expect, people have belief structures on both sides, and they certainly expressed that, which is what caucus is about," she said. "People were just sharing how they felt."
Massie submitted Amendment #5 (Revised) to H.R. 8595 – National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2027.
The amendment would prohibit any funds in the bill from being used for Israel and would cut $3.3 billion from the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) account.