The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday rejected an amendment that would have reduced military aid to Israel by $500 million, marking the first congressional vote on cutting aid to the country in 22 years.
The amendment, introduced by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, was attached to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2026. Despite the high-profile nature of the proposal, it was overwhelmingly voted down—422 members opposed the measure, while only six supported it. Those voting in favor included Greene herself, fellow Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, and four Democrats.
Massie has previously voiced opposition to U.S. military aid to Israel, while Greene’s stance marks a more recent shift within segments of the Republican Party. She cited Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons as one of the reasons the country does not require such large sums in American assistance. Greene is the first sitting U.S. politician to openly state in a public forum that Israel possesses nuclear arms—an assertion long treated with deliberate ambiguity by successive U.S. administrations.
While former President Jimmy Carter acknowledged Israel’s nuclear capabilities in 2006, it came long after his time in office. Other U.S. officials have allegedly made similar acknowledgments behind closed doors, but Greene’s public comments have reignited debate around Israel’s undeclared arsenal and its implications for continued U.S. military support.
The failed amendment nonetheless represents the first formal congressional vote to reduce aid to Israel since 2003, when a bill passed to reduce economic aid but simultaneously increased military assistance. More recently, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced amendments in late 2024 and early 2025 to block the sale of specific weapons to Israel, though those efforts did not challenge the annual aid package itself.
Currently, Israel receives $3.8 billion annually through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program under a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2016. The agreement, covering 2019 to 2028, does not include the estimated $17 billion in additional weapons shipments rushed to Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Though Greene’s amendment failed by a wide margin, the vote signals a small but growing discomfort—particularly among segments of the American Right—with the long-standing U.S. policy of unconditional military support to Israel.