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

Frederick Haynes

Democrat · U.S. House, Texas District 30
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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.

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Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: His own words came at a rally protesting U.S. military supplies to Israel, and two outlets separately report his calls in 2024 to cut off weapons and for an arms embargo, all pointing one way. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Haynes, a Dallas pastor, protested U.S. military supplies to the government of Israel at a 2024 rally, saying "We will not bow down to the U.S. war machine". In an October 2024 podcast episode, Jewish Insider reports, he called for an arms embargo on the government of Israel.

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Deep Dive

Haynes is senior pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, a former CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and won the TX-30 Democratic primary on March 3, 2026.

His record is preaching and protest rather than legislation, and it is consistent. At an October 2024 rally in Dallas organised by the Palestinian Youth Movement he protested U.S. military supplies to Israel and told the crowd "We will not bow down to the U.S. war machine". In a video sermon that month he criticised U.S. foreign policy for sending billions in military aid, including an $8 billion supplemental package, to supply weapons used in Gaza rather than funding humanitarian relief. Jewish Insider reports that in a podcast episode released the day after that rally he pointed to "decades upon decades of the atrocity of apartheid" and called for an arms embargo on Israel and a "Marshall Plan … to rebuild Gaza, to rebuild Palestine for the indigenous people." He returned to the argument on his podcast in April 2025, when, by the same report, he suggested that U.S. arms sales and aid to Israel are responsible for rising health-care costs in the United States. Earlier items, with their dates, are on the research page.

Jewish Insider also reports that he has described the war in Gaza as a genocide funded by the United States.

The money

Checked the five lobbying groups we track; no direct 2026 support found

2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
✓ Endorsed by JVP Action +2 more
JVP ActionJewish Voice for Peace's political arm, which now operates as JVP. It backs candidates who support Palestinian rights and work to end U.S. military funding to the government of Israel.A New Policy PACA group backing congressional candidates who want a new U.S. policy toward Israel and Palestine grounded in U.S. and international law, including conditions on military aid.Track AIPACA watchdog on AIPAC-linked money. It backs candidates who reject AIPAC support and call for an arms embargo and conditions on aid to the government of Israel.These endorsements come from groups that push to restrict or end U.S. weapons transfers to the government of Israel. Endorsements from these groups are shown for information; they do not decide the mark.

In their words

“We will not bow down to the U.S. war machine”
Source ↗, 2024-10-05
Endorsements

JVP Action (2026 endorsement) · A New Policy PAC (2026 endorsement) · Track 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

  • 2023-10-08 [Months after October 7, 2023; on this page only]: In a sermon at Friendship-West Baptist Church he criticised U.S. military assistance and weapons shipments to Israel, citing the disparity in military capability between Israel and Palestinians. The source page is a church video.
  • 2024-01 [The date is given only as January 2024, so it is listed here but not used for the card]: Two independent outlets report that he pressed the Biden administration to cut off U.S. support and weapons for the government of Israel: Jewish Insider (2026-01-29) says "In January, 2024, he called on then-President Joe Biden to threaten to cut off U.S. support for Israel if Israel did not bring the war in Gaza to an end", and Common Dreams (2026-03-04) refers to "his campaigning for the Biden administration to cut off weapons to Israel back in 2024". Neither quotes his own words. Jewish Insider adds that he was a leading member in January 2024 of a coalition of Black pastors who lobbied for a ceasefire in Gaza.
  • 2024-10-05 [Current position]: At a Dallas rally organised by the Palestinian Youth Movement he protested U.S. military supplies to Israel, declaring "We will not bow down to the U.S. war machine". The source page is Fight Back News, an advocacy outlet, the only source located for the quotation. Jewish Insider reports the same chant, "according to a far-left publication".
  • 2024-10-07 [Current position]: In a video sermon titled "4 minutes of truth telling" he criticised U.S. foreign policy for sending billions in military aid, including an $8 billion supplemental package, to supply "weapons of mass destruction" used in Gaza instead of funding humanitarian aid.
  • 2024-10 [Current position; one outlet]: Jewish Insider reports that in a podcast episode released the day after the rally he pointed to the "decades upon decades of the atrocity of apartheid" and "called for an arms embargo on Israel and a “Marshall Plan … to rebuild Gaza, to rebuild Palestine for the indigenous people.”" The podcast itself was not opened.
  • 2025-04 [Current position; month-only date]: Returned to the argument on an episode of his podcast. Jewish Insider reports that he "suggested in a podcast episode released in April 2025 that U.S. arms sales and aid to Israel are responsible for rising health-care costs in the United States".

Characterization of the conflict

  • 2023-10-08 [Reaction window; covered 2026-01-29 and 2026-03-04; on this page only]: The sermon at Friendship-West on October 8, 2023 in which, citing former President Jimmy Carter, he described Israeli policy as apartheid drew coverage in Jewish Insider and Common Dreams during the primary campaign. Dated in the weeks after October 7, 2023, so it is listed here but not used for the card.
  • 2024 onward [Current position; one outlet, reported]: Jewish Insider reports that he "has since described the war in Gaza as a genocide, funded by the United States". The outlet's words, not a quotation of him.
  • Undated: An appearance referenced by Amanpour and Company.

Rhetoric and lobbying

Safety and antisemitism

  • Nothing located as a statement by him.

What came back empty or unusable

  • No statement located on U.S. aid to Palestinians or UNRWA as a budget line, as distinct from his argument that military aid should be humanitarian aid instead.
  • The card's lead quotation has one source page, an advocacy outlet; Jewish Insider reports the same chant, citing it. Two dates are month-only.
  • He holds no office, so there are no votes and no funding record.

Also in this race

  1. – Everett Jackson (Republican)

All Texas 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.