Why Did GOP Rep. Thomas Massie Join with Squad Members to Vote No on Anti-Hamas Resolution?

When Rep. Mike Johnson was elected speaker, he said that the House was getting right to work Wednesday afternoon. The first item on the agenda was to vote on a resolution to show support to Israel. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against it.

Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Cori Bush (D-MO), Al Green (D-TX), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Andre Carson (D-IN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA), Delia Ramirez (D-IL) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) voted against the bill. Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), Greg Casar (D-TX), Chuy Garcia (D-TX) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) voted present.
With the exception of Pressley, all of the present votes came from lawmakers who had co-sponsored the resolution in the immediate aftermath of the attack, but have since called for a cease-fire. With the exception of Green, the lawmakers opposing the bill have frequently criticized Israel and are reliable “no” votes on pro-Israel legislation.

Why did Massie join members of The Squad and other Democrats in withholding his public show of support for Israel? He said he has reasons for not supporting House Resolution 771.

1) It calls for sanctions on a sovereign country. Sanctions are a prelude to war and hurt the citizens of the country more than the government of the country that’s being sanctioned. And ultimately, sanctions create laws that will be used to prosecute American citizens (who engage in trade), not citizens of the sanctioned country. In short, sanctions do not achieve their stated purposes but do breed resentment of our country abroad.
2) It asserts the necessity of foreign aid commitments which I have voted against. Our country is going bankrupt and we can’t afford to borrow money to send overseas, yet this resolution states that we should.
3) It contains an open-ended promise of military support that is so broad that it could be interpreted to commit US soldiers to the conflict. US troops should not be engaged in this conflict.
4) It tends to broaden the conflict to other countries when it would be better to keep the war contained geographically.

I condemn the barbaric attack on Israel and I affirm Israel’s right to defend itself.
However, I will not be voting for House Resolution 771 today because:
1) It calls for sanctions on a sovereign country. Sanctions are a prelude to war and hurt the citizens of the country more…
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) October 25, 2023

I read the resolution. I have to say I don’t reach the same conclusion that Massie does. If I was a member of the House, I would have voted for it. I think Massie is reading things into the resolution that are not there. YMMV.

To read the comments on his tweet, you see he has support for his vote. The no votes received criticism from their colleagues in the House.

Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) told Jewish Insider she was “appalled by the Democratic members who opposed this resolution and failed to condemn Hamas,” calling their votes “shameful.” Rosen noted that a similar resolution had passed unanimously in the Senate.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said, “someone who votes against this I would think doesn’t have a soul.” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) said that members who were unwilling to vote for the bill “are not worthy of serving in this body” and should “resign in disgrace.”

This is not the first time that Massie has raised eyebrows with a no vote against Israel. In May 2022, he was the lone ‘no’ vote on an antisemitism resolution. At the time, he tweeted something about the title of bills.

If we just voted based on the names of the bills, I’d vote for almost all of them.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 19, 2022

He later tweeted that the resolution violated 1st Amendment rights.

“I don’t hate anyone based on his or her ethnicity or religion. Legitimate government exists, in part, to punish those who commit unprovoked violence against others, but government can’t legislate thought. This bill promoted internet censorship and violations of the 1st amendment.”

The pro-Israel resolution was the first legislation passed in the House in three weeks.

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