But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Steve Scalise

Republican · U.S. House, Louisiana District 1
✗Supported sending weapons or funding in 5 of 5 tracked votes

Scalise says the defense partnership with the government of Israel "needs to continue", and wrote that the House passed a bill to force delivery of congressionally approved military aid when the administration withheld weapons. Of calls for restraint: "Who walks away from a friend during a time of war?"

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Deep Dive

Scalise represents Louisiana's 1st District, the suburbs east and west of New Orleans and the parishes along the north shore, and he is the House Majority Leader.

He has explained his own votes in writing. In a September 2024 letter to House colleagues he described the Israel Security Assistance Support Act as legislation passed "to force the delivery of congressionally approved military aid", and set it against what he called administration "efforts to pressure Israel by withholding critical weapons". The same letter puts the earlier supplemental in the same frame, as a measure "to quickly provide additional military equipment for our ally Israel".

Asked about the partnership itself, he has been specific about what he means. Speaking in April 2024 after Iranian missile and drone strikes, he said he had personally seen the Iron Dome and some of the other defense systems that we work with them on putting in place, and they've been highly effective, naming fighter jets and destroyers alongside it, and added: "So this partnership has been in place for a long time, and it needs to continue." In the same remarks he said the President should not be "putting preconditions" on the government of Israel.

On the lobbying side, reporting on video of a private October 2024 event describes him commending the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for having "tentacles throughout the Republican and Democrat circles in 435 districts" and urging supporters to press lawmakers "who are voting the wrong way". The footage was obtained by reporters rather than released by his office, and that is how it is recorded here.

Nothing located has him addressing U.S. humanitarian aid for Palestinians as a question of its own.

The record

Supported sending weapons or funding in 5 of 5 tracked votes · Backs 0 of 1 tracked bills to restrict weapons transfers

Floor votes
H.R. 6126 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act2023-11-02 · Passed 226-196
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending it
H.R. 7217 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 20242024-02-06 · Failed 250-180 (needed 2/3 under suspension)
– Did not vote
H.R. 8034 - Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 20242024-04-20 · Passed 366-58
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending it
H.R. 8369 - Israel Security Assistance Support Act2024-05-16 · Passed 224-187
✗ Voted Yes
supported sending it
H.R. 8595 - Massie amendment (Part A No. 8) to bar FY27 funds for Israel and cut $3.3B in Foreign Military Financing2026-07-15 · Failed 104-314
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
H.Amdt. 55 to H.R. 4016 - strike $500M for Israeli Cooperative Programs2025-07-18 · Failed 6-422 (only 6 voted to cut)
✗ Voted No
voted against limiting it
Bill sponsorship
H.R. 3565 - Block the Bombs ActWould bar transfer of 2,000-lb/BLU-109 bunker busters, JDAMs, 120mm tank rounds, and 155mm artillery shells to Israel. Does not affect Iron
Not sponsoringhas not backed this restriction bill
H.R. 1229 - United States-Israel Defense Partnership Act of 2025Formalizes/expands bilateral defense cooperation with Israel.
Not sponsoringhas not backed this support bill
How this mark works

We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

Voted to send weapons or funding in more than half of their recorded tracked votes. (Supported sending weapons or funding in 5 of 5 tracked votes.)

The money

$38K in lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track

Lifetime support from the five lobbying groups we track
AIPAC PAC: $22,900 · Republican Jewish Coalition: $15,000
Support-only OpenFEC data (as of 2026-10-03). Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Who these lobbying groups are
AIPAC$22,900The American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.Republican Jewish Coalition$15,000The Republican Jewish Coalition's PAC; it financially supports Republican candidates who reflect its priorities, including strong U.S. backing of the government of Israel.Direct contributions and independent expenditures supporting this candidate from the five lobbying groups we track, every cycle each has filed, through 2026. Excludes earmarked and conduit contributions.
Endorsed by AIPAC
AIPACThe American Israel Public Affairs Committee; its PAC backs candidates it sees as strengthening U.S. ties with the government of Israel, including continued U.S. military aid.These endorsements come from groups that back sending U.S. weapons and funding to the government of Israel.

In their words

“So this partnership has been in place for a long time, and it needs to continue, especially right now when you see a multi-front war.”
Source ↗, 2024-04-14
“The President doesn't need to be putting preconditions like you've seen lately on Israel.”
Source ↗, 2024-04-14
Endorsements

AIPAC (2026 endorsement)

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • [Position, 2024-09-26] Letter to House colleagues on the 118th Congress, on his own House site. Opened and confirmed word for word. Quoted: "We passed H.R. 6126, the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, to quickly provide additional military equipment for our ally Israel, and in the face of Biden-Harris Administration efforts to pressure Israel by withholding critical weapons, we passed H.R. 8369, the Israel Security Assistance Support Act, to force the delivery of congressionally approved military aid."
  • [Position, 2024-04-14] Remarks on LiveNOW from FOX, published on his own House site. Opened and confirmed word for word. Quoted: "This is a partnership we've had with Israel for a long, long time. I've been out to Israel myself, personally seen the Iron Dome and some of the other defense systems that we work with them on putting in place, and they've been highly effective." And: "So this partnership has been in place for a long time, and it needs to continue, especially right now when you see a multi-front war." And: "The President doesn't need to be putting preconditions like you've seen lately on Israel." The same release also has him describing the strikes as "an escalation unprovoked by Iran".
  • His recorded votes on the tracked bills appear as badges on this card. The September 2024 letter is his own account of two of them, which is why the prose characterizes them; the grounding for each vote sits in the record section rather than in the prose.
  • [Position, 2026-03-05] Remarks on Fox Business Network, published on his leadership site. Opened and confirmed. The subject is Iran's nuclear program and U.S. defense funding generally; he says Iran "wanted to eviscerate Israel". No position on transfers to the government of Israel is stated, so nothing from it is used on the card.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located. No statement, vote explanation or campaign material addressing U.S. humanitarian funding for Palestinians, the aid pipeline, or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency was found under his name.
  • [Position, 2024-04-14] The April remarks touch Palestinian statehood in passing: "If Palestinians want their own country, the ability is there to have an agreement reached. They've chosen, the Palestinian leadership has chosen, not to want peace" (confirmed, above). That is a characterization rather than an aid position and is recorded here.

Characterization of the conflict

  • [Position, 2024-03-21] Joint statement with Speaker Mike Johnson and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul on hostage negotiations, reproduced by the Arab Center Washington DC weekly digest. Opened and confirmed that the digest names him and quotes the statement: "there must be tangible, severe consequences for delaying or impeding negotiations". ⚠ Three-signatory statement; the wording is the three members' collectively and is not written up as his personal characterization.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-07] A same-day social media post is reported to have said "the United States will always stand with Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East". The address offered for it, https://www.nationalmemo.com/tag/israeli-palestinian-conflict, is a topic listing page rather than the post, so the wording is not treated as confirmed. In the reaction window in any case, so not on the card summary.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-10-11] Remarks during his bid for the speakership, that his first floor action would be a resolution standing with Israel in its war against Hamas, described as a "barbaric war". Carriers offered were a PBS NewsHour page that could not be opened and his leadership site's December 2023 item. In the reaction window, so not on the card summary.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position, 2024-10-01, reported 2024-10-09] The New Republic, citing video obtained by The Guardian, reports his remarks at a private American Israel Public Affairs Committee event. Opened and confirmed word for word. Quoted: he commended the organization for having "tentacles throughout the Republican and Democrat circles in 435 districts. You can see how people are voting, just put the pressure on those who are voting the wrong way." ⚠ The primary carrier is footage held by reporters, not a release from his office, and the article adds the outlet's own characterization of the phrase. The card attributes the words to the reporting and adopts none of the outlet's commentary. No quote entry is created because the chain of custody runs through a second outlet.
  • [Position, 2024-04-11] Republican Jewish Coalition newsletter. Opened and confirmed: "House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said Wednesday, 'President Biden has walked away from the strong relationship we have with Israel ... Who walks away from a friend during a time of war?'" The newsletter's own rendering elides part of the passage, so only the unelided question is quoted on the card.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

  • [Position, 2024-10-01, reported 2024-10-09] At the same private event, he is reported to have said of universities "Your accreditation is on the line" and "You're not playing games any more, or else you're not a school any more", and to have named federal science grants and student loans as leverage. Confirmed word for word on that page. Kept to this page: this is campus enforcement rather than an answer to what the United States sends.
  • [Position, 2024-12-19] A House Republican leadership report on antisemitism in higher education following a seven-month investigation. Opened; names him among the leaders publishing it.
  • [Position, 2025-07-16] A call for a "zero-tolerance policy" on antisemitic harassment on campus, offered with a Facebook address, https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/posts/rep-randy-fine-r-fl-scolded-a-protester-who-shouted-during-a-house-hearing-on-an/1141176024540907/. That page is a news organization's post about a different member of Congress, and Facebook does not answer us. Treated as unread; nothing claimed from it.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-12-08] Signed a congressional letter calling university leaders' testimony "abhorrent"; the letter itself opens as a PDF. Not on the card summary.
  • [Reaction window, 2023-12-13] Co-sponsored H.Res. 927 on campus antisemitism, per his leadership site and Al Jazeera coverage of the hearing. Not on the card summary.

Race and status context

  • Sitting representative for the district and House Majority Leader, qualified on Louisiana's certified list for the all-candidate November election, with a December runoff between the top two if nobody clears half the vote. Four candidates are on the ballot in this district.
  • Tracked funding totals appear as a badge on this card.

Also in this race

  1. ? Randall Arrington (Republican)
  2. ✓ Lauren Jewett (Democrat)
  3. – E. "Liddy" Glass (Independent)

All Louisiana candidates.

But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.