Republicans launch bid to force BDS vote

Doubling down on their accusations of anti-Semitism within Democratic ranks, Republicans are launching a new push to pass legislation against boycotts of Israel.

House Minority whip Steve Scalise, R-La., began collecting signatures today for a discharge position to force a floor vote on a bill providing legal cover to state-level laws cracking down on the pro-Palestinian BDS movement.

Republicans push US-backed NGOs on BDS

Republicans are drawing the next battle lines in the fight over BDS: US-funded non-governmental organizations.

Senate clears path for passage of anti-BDS bill this week

After a month of fighting over legislation clamping down on the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel amid free speech concerns, the Senate voted 72-24 tonight to advance the Combating BDS Act, its sixth procedural vote on the bill before final passage later this week.

Senate BDS vote splits Democrats

The Senate voted 74-19 today to advance a broader Middle East legislative package that include the Combatting BDS Act. The bill is intended to give legal cover to state-level anti-BDS laws despite constitutional concerns from the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

Senators have already voted on the bill three times this year but had failed to secure enough supportive Democrats amid the government shutdown. Only four Democrats had previously voted in favor. But with the shutdown resolved for the next three weeks, 24 Democrats joined their Republican colleagues in tossing a potential political hand grenade to their counterparts in the House.

Not a single one of the potential Democratic presidential candidates voted for the bill, but two were noticeably absent. Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., who backs another anti-BDS bill, did not vote. And Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., joined Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in voting no.

Still, it remains unclear whether the House will put the bill on the floor. Instead of taking up the BDS debate, the Democratic-held House instead voted unanimously last week to pass a Syria sanctions component of the broader Senate package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has also separately introduced another component of the package, which would extend expedited military assistance for Jordan.

Republican bill condemns pro-BDS lawmakers as anti-Semites

House Republicans today introduced legislation condemning Congress’ first two female Muslim lawmakers as anti-Semites because of their stated support for the Israel boycott movement.

GOP loses key Democrat with third anti-BDS vote in a week

Third time’s the charm, right? Not so much. The Senate this evening failed 50-43 to advance an anti-BDS bill for the third time within a week. And this time Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., lost support from a key defector – the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.

Menendez had joined Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, Doug Jones, D-Ala., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., in voting to advance the bill twice last week. The other three still sided with Republicans today.

"I don’t like the Majority Leader using the US-Israel relationship as a political pawn."

“I don’t like the Majority Leader using the US-Israel relationship as a political pawn,” Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, told Al-Monitor. “It’s time to get the government open … It’s obvious that he’s just going to continue to do this. And at the end of the day this isn’t about getting this done; this is about scoring political points.”

But Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., who also supports the underlying legislation despite consistently voting against advancing debate during a shutdown, fully expects the bill to pass once the government is fully funded.

“I think there’s broad bipartisan support for anti-BDS legislation,” Cardin told Al-Monitor. “We had an opportunity over the last two years. Senator McConnell did not take advantage of that; that’s disappointing to me. We’ll find a time to bring up anti-BDS legislation.”

- Bryant Harris

Senate holds another failed BDS vote as House moves on anti-Semitism bill

If you’re having deja vu, you’re not alone.

Senate Republicans this afternoon again failed to reach the 60 votes needed to proceed to their anti-BDS bill, by a vote of 53-43. Democrats are still holding their ground, refusing to advance any non-spending legislation until the federal government reopens. The same four Democrats who broke ranks on Tuesday — Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Doug Jones, D-Ala., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. — again sided with Republicans, but no one else joined them.

Murphy floats alternative to GOP's anti-BDS bill

SCOOP: Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tells Al-Monitor that he is working on compromise legislation that he hopes can bring more Democrats on board the Republican-led push back against the pro-Palestinian BDS movement. 

“There’s a way to make these bills truly bipartisan and bicameral. Unfortunately, Republicans seem more interested in using Israel as a wedge issue than actually getting as many votes as possible.”

Legislation from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. bill failed 56-44 to clear a 60-threshold on Tuesday as Democrats vow to hold up bills that don't reopen the federal government. The Senate plans to try again this afternoon.

“I’m working on drafting a new version of Rubio’s language that could get a lot of Democratic votes,” said Murphy. “There’s a way to make these bills truly bipartisan and bicameral. Unfortunately, Republicans seem more interested in using Israel as a wedge issue than actually getting as many votes as possible.”

Rubio’s bill had 15 Democratic co-sponsors in the last Congress.  

Murphy also called Rubio’s tweet this week falsely accusing some Democratic senators of supporting BDS “uncharacteristic” and reiterated calls for him to take it down. 

Asked if his draft legislation would address the American Civil Liberties Union's free-speech concerns with the Rubio bill, Murphy said “I don’t know yet whether it’d get all the way there.”

- Bryant Harris

Israel anti-boycott bill becomes partisan casualty in first vote of new Senate

The Senate on Tuesday failed 56-44 to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act, introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.

Only four Democrats voted to advance the package after Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., instructed his caucus to vote no on any legislation that does not address the weekslong government shutdown. Still, the historically nonpartisan American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) called on lawmakers to advance the bill as quickly as possible, making its most partisan legislative push since it urged lawmakers to vote against the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. Conversely, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is lobbying against the bill, arguing that it encourages states to pass unconstitutional laws infringing on free-speech rights.

Rubio’s legislation also codifies a 10-year, $38 billion aid agreement with Israel into law, extends expedited military aid for Jordan and sanctions supporters of the Syrian government. 

Shutdown politics aside, the bill has highlighted substantive divisions among Democrats. Schumer and other Democrats support anti-BDS legislation, but Republicans have pointed to two new House members – Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. – who openly support BDS. Nonetheless, most Democrats opposed to anti-boycott bills on civil liberties grounds still oppose the BDS movement.