Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

House Dems Vote Against Anti-BDS Measure After GOP Adds It To Yemen Resolution

Almost every House Democrat voted Thursday against an anti-BDS measure introduced by Republicans as an add-on to a resolution to end American support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.

Democrats slammed Republicans for attempting to add the anti-BDS language, saying that the introduction of unrelated matters into an already-controversial resolution harmed the bipartisan pro-Israel consensus. The House eventually voted to eliminate the BDS language 228-194. Only five Democrats voted to keep it.

“Today is a sad day,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted. “Nearly every single Democrat just voted AGAINST Israel and in support of the BDS movement that seeks to destabilize the only democracy in the Middle East.”

But Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois who has introduced his own anti-BDS resolution, said in a statement that the move was a “cynical ploy of weaponizing support for Israel for partisan political gain.”

The resolution passed the Senate last month 54-46, with seven Republicans joining Democrats in condemning Saudi Arabia’s actions, which United Nations monitors have said may amount to war crimes. But adding the BDS language would have required a new vote in the Senate, this time with a 60 vote threshold it was unlikely to clear.

Republicans have used multiple tactics to embarrass Democrats on Israel-related resolutions this year. In January, in the midst of the government shutdown, the first bill introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was an anti-BDS measure – which Democrats voted against because it didn’t solve the shutdown.

After passing the House without any additions, the Yemen resolution will now go to the desk of President Trump, who has pledge to veto it.

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.