U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5) was the lone Connecticut congressperson to vote against sending more money to Israel on Wednesday.
The vote was largely symbolic. It was proposed by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) as an amendment to a funding bill for the State Department. Passing it would have kept any of the money from the bill from being spent on Israel.
It was seen as a test for Democrats. The party's base is deeply divided on whether or not to support the country and its ongoing military operations.
Nearly half of all House Democrats supported cutting the funding to Israel. However, Hayes was the only CT representative among them.
“It is unfortunate that Massie Amendment #8 is poorly written and extremely broad and fails to acknowledge the humanitarian efforts, potential impacts on Embassy operations, educational and cultural exchanges, and the ongoing support for Palestinian Security Forces, which are funded through this aid. I do not believe this amendment was drafted in pursuit of longstanding solutions, but instead to be another political wedge issue,” Hayes said in a statement after the vote.
“While I do not agree with the entirety of the amendment, I do believe it opens the door to long overdue, hard conversations on U.S. military aid,” she continued.
Hayes said she ultimately decided to vote for the amendment based on what she’s hearing from her constituents.
Connecticut’s other four U.S. Representatives voted against the amendment.
Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3) cited concerns with the broadness of the amendment in an explanation of her vote.
“I share the concerns of many Americans about U.S. support for Israel’s military operations, and successfully introduced an amendment to the 2027 Defense Appropriations Bill requiring reporting on the use of American weapons by Israel that could be in violation of the ceasefire,” DeLauro said. “My amendment was designed to create transparency—this one does the opposite. The amount of discretion this amendment would provide to the Trump Administration in all aspects of this important relationship is unwise.”
The full funding bill passed the House along party lines.
