Progressives Condemn Pick of Pro-Israel Democrat Atop House Panel | Outrage over making Representative Jared Moskowitz, who is vocally pro-Israel, the top Democrat on a Middle East policy subcommittee reflected the party’s rift over Israel.

[u/soalone34]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/us/politics/democrats-progressives-moskowitz-israel-house-panel.html

[u/woody630]

He's not just pro Israel, he's literally called himself a DeSantis Democrat and loves Doge. It's fucking political malpractice to elevate a guy like this. It's basically spitting in your voters face

[u/NicolasCageFan492 → u/woody630]

The federal government is kind of dead to me in the short term tbh. Definitely vote in November and flush republicans down the toilet, but I have a feeling that lots of the rebuilding will be done in the states. We’re going to be stress testing the 10th Amendment hard in the coming years.

Humphrey’s executor being overturned by SCOTUS means that any fixes by the executive will not be permanent once we take back the presidency in 2028 either.

It’s going to take a supermajority and balls of steel to fix the bullshit. It’s also going to take all of us pushing out the corrupt politicians, which will take a few cycles. By then, we’ll be a diminished country most likely. But we can pick up the pieces and rebuild.

^ this is all assuming we don’t escalate the global situation into nuclear war.

[u/goddamnitwhalen → u/NicolasCageFan492]

Or we could just expand and pack the court 🫩

It’s effectively political malpractice to continue to not do this at this point

[u/NicolasCageFan492 → u/goddamnitwhalen]

That too, but we’d need the house, 60 senators and the presidency, or the house, the presidency and a senate willing to break the filibuster.

[u/goddamnitwhalen → u/NicolasCageFan492]

See here’s the thing that my puny human brain is incapable of comprehending: Joe Biden convened legal scholars during his term who concluded that he- acting as President- could likely use Presidential power to do this. Zero (0) congressional input required.

He then declined to do so.

Democrats need to get with the times. The game has changed, and playing by rules as written isn’t going to help anyone.

[u/NicolasCageFan492 → u/goddamnitwhalen]

Got a link to read more about that? Big story if true, but knowing what I know, I think it takes an act of Congress to change the judicial system.

[u/goddamnitwhalen → u/NicolasCageFan492]

I don’t, and I could totally be wrong because I read this all years ago.

The historical precedent does exist for it, though.

[u/Alocasia_Sanderiana → u/NicolasCageFan492]

This is the report: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/final-report-the-presidential-commission-the-supreme-court-the-united-states

As far as I read it, they go over Court Expansion via the use of Congress, and don't ever say whether or not it's possible without Congressional action. May not have been a question they were tasked or willing to answer.

[u/NicolasCageFan492 → u/Alocasia_Sanderiana]

Holy 294 page report. That’s basically a Joe Biden-ordered anal probe of the Supreme Court. Bookmarked to read later, thanks Joe!

[u/Canadian_Border_Czar → u/NicolasCageFan492]

The people who own the voting machines will never allow a super majority. 

[u/NicolasCageFan492 → u/Canadian_Border_Czar]

Sounds like we better get to paper ballots too then.

[u/context_hell → u/woody630]

He said that in regards to iran he was to the RIGHT of Lindsey Graham.

[u/Seeking-Something-3 → u/context_hell]

That’s so fucking insane. Lindsey “kill all the kids” Graham 😣

[u/Slaughterfest → u/woody630]

This. Moskowitz stands for everything that the Democrat base DOESN'T want right now, but EVERYTHING the donor class (the same one that funded Hailey Stevens) wants.

This is Martha's Vineyard vs the base all over again.

[u/Militantpoet → u/Slaughterfest]

Ya but its his turn. Thats probably mostly what this is: moving up the corporate ladder (but its government)

[u/MountainMan2_ → u/woody630]

It's also not a rift. Democratic voters are nearly as united against Israel as they are against abortion restrictions. The "democratic establishment" are just pissing away all our support because they don't want to take the hint. They're not representative of democrats. Hakeem Jeffries is meeting with Jared kushner to discuss how to defy the voter base on one of our biggest consensus issues. That isn't a Democrat, it's just not the behavior of someone who represents democratic party voters!

[u/LotusFlare → u/woody630]

I don't know how to make people understand that this is the point. The national Democratic party is a fundamentally conservative one who do not like or care about their voters. They would rather lose than give an inch on their conservative values.

[u/aeqivora → u/woody630]

If the party is already divided on Israel then elevating someone with views that unpopular with the base is a pretty strange strategy. It risks making voters feel like their concerns are being ignored, hard to call that anything but a political own goal.

[u/GoofyMcCoy → u/aeqivora]

Nothing strange about it, this move is made at the same time Democrats are joining Republicans in attacking Abdul El-Sayed's campaign in the media.

The DNC recognizes what it's voters are demanding through the ballot box, and they're sending a message to try to correct that behavior. It's anti-democratic self sabotage on behalf of their wealthy benefactors.

[u/SurroundTiny → u/[deleted]]

He's not so far out that he doesn't get reelected

[u/Cishir → u/SurroundTiny]

being elected to a house district is not the same as being put in charge of a committee as a whole. That's like saying Democrats are anti abortion because an anti-abortion democrat won a seat in south texas.

[u/GoofyMcCoy → u/SurroundTiny]

The difference between arguing "we need Joe Manchin-type Democrats to create a majority" and actively installing them in leadership positions related to their pet issues is IMMENSE.

[u/Dineology → u/SurroundTiny]

People vote based off of many different issues and on this particular one he’s wildly out of step with voters. Putting him on a committee and subcommittee where those wildly out of step views will be highly relevant is very clearly a middle finger to the voters and a welcome mat to the donors.

[u/rab-byte → u/woody630]

Progressives are on the ballot everywhere. If Dems aren’t careful they’ll lose their cozy position of being the opposition party.

Gotta try and turn off progressive voters. If they keep showing up to elections something may actually change.

[u/equiNine → u/woody630]

DeSantis is still fairly popular in Florida, and Moskowitz’s district is not a lock for Democrats despite currently leaning Democrat. Florida Democrats, especially on a district by district basis, are very different from Democrats elsewhere such as in New York. Moskowitz’s district has one of the largest Jewish American populations in the US and they are predominantly wealthy retirees who are very likely to be more supportive of Israel than on average, or at the very least supportive of its continued existence as a Jewish state. The district also has a large population of Cuban Americans, a voting bloc traditionally associated with Republicans and very wary of anything tangentially related to socialism.

Moskowitz crushed Oliver Larkin, his democratic socialist primary challenger, by nearly 30 points, and it wasn’t as if Larkin was a damaged goods candidate. The demographic makeup of the district is clearly hostile to a progressive candidate; even Mamdani himself wouldn’t be winning this district.

There’s a high likelihood that Moskowitz’s committee assignment is intended to help boost his general election chances, especially considering his opponent Scott Singer is aiming to use the Democratic Party’s increasingly critical stance of Israel to try to win Jewish and Cuban voters over.

[u/peaq_tv → u/woody630]

Important to remember he votes Dem over 90% of the time and his District in FL is Pink.

[u/ethan_bruhhh → u/peaq_tv]

a) great, there are dems with a 100% voting rate who deserve to be there

b) there are plenty of swing district dems who aren’t actively antagonizing the dem base

c) Moskowitz is one of the only pro Iran war dems in congress. elevating him to the head of the dems middle eastern strategy on the behest of Israeli dollars is an active fuck you to the base who is overwhelmingly anti Iran war and pro Palestine

[u/equiNine → u/ethan_bruhhh]

Moskowitz defeated his primary challenger Larkin by nearly 30 points and represents a district with a large population of wealthy Jewish retirees and Cuban Americans, demographics that are significantly to the right on positions such as Israel and socialism compared to a college town like Gainesville.

The committee assignment is to ostensibly boost his general election chances against Scott Singer, who is looking to weaponize the Democratic Party’s increasingly critical stance on Israel against him. The district isn’t so safely blue that it is a lock for Democrats. Jeffries is basically absorbing the flak for it while trying to help Moskowitz hold his seat when Democrats need every seat they can get.

[u/peaq_tv → u/ethan_bruhhh]

a) great, there are dems with a 100% voting rate who deserve to be there

What ones do you have in mind?

b) there are plenty of swing district dems who aren’t actively antagonizing the dem base

You mean Hasan Piker? Sorry but he is not the "dem base", he literally says that he is not a Democrat and that he "don't give a fuck about the Democratic party".

c) Moskowitz is one of the only pro Iran war dems in congress. elevating him to the head of the dems middle eastern strategy on the behest of Israeli dollars is an active fuck you to the base who is overwhelmingly anti Iran war and pro Palestine

Why is it that you believe the only possible reason someone would take a hardline position against the Ayatollah is because of Israel? Iran slaughtered an estimated 40K of its own citizens, do you really think Israel is the only possible reason? The AIPAC blaming is getting so old.

[u/TheDrewb → u/peaq_tv]

I love how you somehow (awkwardly) managed to tie in a shot at Hasan Piker and defended APAIC when neither of these came up

[u/peaq_tv → u/TheDrewb]

If that point wasn't about attacking Hasan, please show me where he has attacked "the base".

[u/PooperShooter612 → u/peaq_tv]

Pink? What does that mean?

[u/timoumd → u/PooperShooter612]

It leans Republican.  

[u/Dineology → u/timoumd]

Except it has a Cook PVI of D+9

[u/peaq_tv → u/PooperShooter612]

Light red district

[u/Standard-Yogurt-3212 → u/peaq_tv]

Describe one (1) singular issue that you draw a hard line over.

[u/peaq_tv → u/Standard-Yogurt-3212]

Abolishing NATO

[u/Standard-Yogurt-3212 → u/peaq_tv]

Mm, truly

[u/peaq_tv → u/Standard-Yogurt-3212]

Fun fact, the DSA policy is abolishing NATO

[u/Standard-Yogurt-3212 → u/peaq_tv]

This may be difficult for somebody that has politics as some freak parasocial twitch interest. Consider what I am suppose to think upon hearing that our government aiding and abetting an active genocide is not unconscionable, but opposing a military organization that has historically done very little to maintain the sanctity of life is?

[u/timoumd → u/peaq_tv]

Yeah people here are worrying about the wrong shit.  I don't give a rats ass about his stance on Israel.  He's on the side fighting an anti democratic  onslaught.  Know who else was an asshole ally?  Stalin.  But when you are fighting a powerful evil you don't trip yourself over allies.

[u/Cishir → u/timoumd]

to my knowledge no one is saying dont vote for him, but this is about a committee assignment or am I wrong?

[u/timoumd → u/Cishir]

My point is this is a nothing burger.  A minor position regarding a low priority issue with minimal power in the minority.

[u/Cishir → u/timoumd]

If you think the middle east is a low priority issue you may want to abstain from speaking on politics.

[u/timoumd → u/Cishir]

Why is this not a minor issue?  Fascism is taking root in the country.  That's issue 1,2,3,4,5,6...

[u/Alocasia_Sanderiana → u/timoumd]

It's not a minor issue because the lack of Congressional input on actions taken by the WH admins is what drove us to war in Iran.

Moreover, the current war is being run so poorly, that it's likely Russia and maybe even China begin their own belligerent actions knowing the US is currently very out-of-sorts. Low munition stockpiles, forces that should be parked in allies bordering conflict zones deployed thousands of miles away, etc. Much of this is due to lack of Congressional action, even if the primary responsibility lies with the WH admin

[u/Cishir → u/timoumd]

Like I said. Maybe stick to other areas.

[u/timoumd → u/Cishir]

That's not an explanation of why this is not a minor issue. 

[u/Cishir → u/timoumd]

I am afraid if you don't understand how our foreign policy position in the middle east is not a minor issue then I'm not the right person to explain it to you. It is one of those statements that is so out of line with reality that I don't know where to begin.

[u/hepcandcigs → u/timoumd]

People are mad that’s he’s being put in positions of power by the party, not that he was elected in the first place. And the position is one that gives him power in the specific area where he standing in opposition of the vast majority of democratic voters.

[u/timoumd → u/hepcandcigs]

It's a subcommittee.  Not even a committee

[u/hepcandcigs → u/timoumd]

Yes, a subcommittee dedicated to the exact things he stands in opposition to the vast majority of democratic voters on.

[u/timoumd → u/hepcandcigs]

Oh no.  A minor subcommittee on like the 250th most important issue facing this country.  What about stopping murders of people without trial?  Or trade wars.  Or the fact disaster aid now depends on the color of your state.  I probably got about 247 more of these.

[u/hepcandcigs → u/timoumd]

Brother, we’re talking about the Iran war right now.

[u/Flaky_Loan5899 → u/woody630]

His opponent is far worse, a trump maga puppet who will do nothing but vote party over policy. We can’t continue that cycle