Chris Pappas

Pappas voted present on an amendment to strip U.S. military financing for the government of Israel, saying he could not back it "as written" but could not back "the disproportionate, extreme policies of the Netanyahu government" either. He has voted for the aid packages.

Pappas is a sitting member of the House from New Hampshire's 1st District and a Democratic candidate for the Senate. His recorded votes are on this card, and unlike most of the records in this batch they do not all point the same way. He has now explained why, in his own words.

In July 2026 the House voted on an amendment to bar the year's appropriations from being used for Israel and to remove $3.3 billion from Foreign Military Financing. It was taken on July 15, 2026, by which date the Gaza health ministry had reported 73,246 people killed in Gaza, 20,179 of them children. He was recorded present, and his statement the same day gives both halves of the reason. Against the amendment: it is "overly broad", and "Enacting it would hamstring our humanitarian efforts in the region by limiting funding for programs that support Palestinian economic development and peacebuilding efforts between Israelis and Palestinians." Against the status quo: "I have deep concerns about the path Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to pursue that undermines the long term security objectives of Israel and the United States. This path won't lead to peace, only to more war and instability." And the conclusion: "I voted present today because I cannot support this amendment as written but also cannot support the disproportionate, extreme policies of the Netanyahu government."

Two years earlier he was on the other side of a similar argument, and the aid he had voted for is worth separating out: the April 2024 package he backed was $26.38 billion, $4 billion of it for the Iron Dome and David's Sling interceptor systems and $1.2 billion for Iron Beam, at a reported death toll then of 34,049 with 14,685 children among them. When the administration held back shipments of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs, he said he remained "concerned by President Biden's intention to delay certain weapons shipments to Israel and the message that sends", and that "America must never neglect our obligation to support our allies in their times of need", while voting against the Republican bill written to force the deliveries, which he called a cynically partisan move that did nothing to help.

His campaign sets out the same two-sided position. It says he has supported bipartisan security assistance for the government of Israel and voted for more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza, calls for a ceasefire that returns the hostages and lets aid flow freely, and backs a two-state solution. In July 2025 he called for new corridors, safe zones and airdrops to get food into Gaza.

So the shape of his record is: keep the security assistance, keep and expand the humanitarian aid, refuse to force deliveries the executive has paused, and refuse to cut the financing outright.

Tracked votes: backed sending U.S. weapons or funding to the government of Israel in 3 of 5 recorded votes.

Research

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

[Position, 2026-07-15] Statement on the Massie amendment to the national security and State Department appropriations bill, published on his own House site the day of the vote and verified verbatim: "I cannot support this amendment as written because it is overly broad. Enacting it would hamstring our humanitarian efforts in the region by limiting funding for programs that support Palestinian economic development and peacebuilding efforts between Israelis and Palestinians. It would also weaken our ability to combat Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations that threaten Americans and our allies." And: "At the same time, I have deep concerns about the path Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to pursue that undermines the long term security objectives of Israel and the United States. This path won't lead to peace, only to more war and instability. The United States must stand for security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians alike." And: "I voted present today because I cannot support this amendment as written but also cannot support the disproportionate, extreme policies of the Netanyahu government." The release's own opening line states that he voted present.
[Position, 2024-05-16] Statement on the Republican bill to compel delivery of withheld weapons, which he voted against, verified verbatim: "America's support for the people of Israel must remain firm in the face of the gravest threat to their existence in a generation, and I will never back down from our bipartisan security commitments to Israel. This legislation does absolutely nothing to help Israel and is a cynically partisan move by Speaker Johnson and Republicans who spent months blocking a comprehensive security package." And: "I remain concerned by President Biden's intention to delay certain weapons shipments to Israel and the message that sends to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies. America must never neglect our obligation to support our allies in their times of need." The same page states that he voted for the April 2024 and February 2024 supplemental appropriations bills, and that he has supported funding for joint defence-cooperation programmes including Iron Dome.
[Position, read 2026-08-18] His campaign's foreign policy page, verified verbatim: "He has supported bipartisan security assistance for Israel to defend itself and has voted for more than $9 billion in life-saving humanitarian aid to Gaza. Chris has consistently called for a ceasefire that ensures the return of all hostages, the destruction of Hamas, and the unfettered flow of humanitarian support. Chris supports a two-state solution that provides full security for Israel and safety and self-determination for the Palestinian people." Written about him in the third person, which is how it is attributed. This is the source the earlier card said did not exist for the record's summary claims.
[Position, 2024 to 2026] His recorded House votes are on this card with their own official sources and are not re-listed here. Their direction, which is what the prose is for: he voted for the supplemental appropriations carrying U.S. military aid to the government of Israel, against the bill that would have forced delivery of weapons the administration had withheld from that government, against striking U.S. funding for joint Israeli missile-defense programs, and present on the amendment to bar U.S. funds for Israel and cut Foreign Military Financing. Every cell was cross-checked against the House Clerk's own roll call, for example the vote on the 2024 supplemental and the vote on the delivery bill.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

[Position, 2025-07-29] Statement on opening new corridors for humanitarian aid in Gaza, on reports of starvation, urging expanded safe zones, transit corridors and airdrops.
[Position, read 2026-08-18] The campaign page above states that he has voted for more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid to Gaza and calls for the unfettered flow of humanitarian support. That figure is his campaign's own; no roll call in this record is identified as the vote behind it, so the number is attributed to the campaign rather than stated as a fact of the record.
[Position, 2026-07-15] From the Massie statement above: his stated reason for not backing the amendment is that it would limit funding for Palestinian economic development and for peacebuilding.

Characterization of the conflict

[Earlier record, 2021-05-14] Statement on the violence in Israel and Gaza: heartbroken at the loss of life, affirming the right of self-defence and calling for de-escalation.
[Reaction window, 2023-11-07] A joint statement rejecting the phrase "from the river to the sea" and stating that every civilian death is a tragedy. Off the card (C1), and collective wording besides.
[Position, 2026-07-15] From the Massie statement: "The United States must stand for security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians alike."

Related rhetoric and lobbying

[Prior, 2023-07-17] He co-signed a statement with other House Democrats responding to a colleague's description of Israel as a racist state. Collective wording; nothing is attributed to him alone.
[Position, 2026-03-07] A recorded message played at an event of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, in which he is reported to have called U.S. support for Israel a cornerstone of national security policy. The carriers are video pages with no transcript, so the phrase is described here and neither quoted nor linked.

Safety and antisemitism (context)

[Prior, 2022-12-15] He joined a bipartisan resolution condemning public figures who promote antisemitic rhetoric.
[Position, 2024-04-29] He signed a joint letter to Columbia University's trustees urging that campus encampments be disbanded. The only carrier located refuses every route, so it is described here without a link.
[Position, 2024-05-01] Statement on his vote for the Antisemitism Awareness Act, referring to vandalism in New Hampshire.

Race and status context

Sitting representative for New Hampshire's 1st District and a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.
NOTE (DATA): the ten Senate resolution cells on a House member's record are all filled with not-in-office. That is accurate but it reads oddly next to six real House cells, and a reader may take the blanks for abstentions. Worth a rendering look before launch; it will recur on every House member running for the Senate.
He is the member named by another candidate in this block, nh-gov-kiper, who cited an appearance of his at a lobbying committee's event as his reason for leaving the Democratic Party. That is Kiper's characterization and it sits on Kiper's page.