But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Joy A. Powers
Democrat · U.S. House, Virginia District 9
✓Opposes
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.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: She says American families should not keep paying for what the Netanyahu government is doing and that she would end the billions in weapons and money, with values attached to any weapons after that, which is a suspension now with nothing continuing. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Powers says of U.S. aid to Israel: "We send Israel's government billions in weapons and taxpayer dollars every year with almost no conditions and no accountability, and I would end that." She adds: "our weapons should come with our values attached."
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Powers is the Democratic nominee for Virginia's 9th District, running against Rep. Morgan Griffith.
Her answer to a direct question about AIPAC and U.S. aid to Israel is unusually complete, and it is hers under her own name. Rendered and read in full: "I will give you a straight answer, because you deserve one: I do not take my orders from AIPAC or any other lobby. Our foreign policy should be made in Washington, in the interest of the American people, not handed over to a foreign government or the groups that carry its water."
On the money itself: "I do not think American families should keep paying for what Benjamin Netanyahu's government is doing. He is under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes. We send Israel's government billions in weapons and taxpayer dollars every year with almost no conditions and no accountability, and I would end that. I do not believe families here, the ones struggling to afford groceries and keep their hospitals open, should be footing that bill."
She sets that against what she wants: "I want the hostages home. I want the killing to stop. I want safety and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But a real friend tells the truth, and the truth is that our weapons should come with our values attached."
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.
In their words
“We send Israel's government billions in weapons and taxpayer dollars every year with almost no conditions and no accountability, and I would end that.”
“I want the hostages home. I want the killing to stop. I want safety and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But a real friend tells the truth, and the truth is that our weapons should come with our values attached.”
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, published 2026-08-12] Her candidate answer on AIPAC and U.S. aid to Israel, **read in full**. Verbatim, under her own name and heading ("Joy Powers / Running for US House, VA-09 / Where do you stand on AIPAC and U.S. aid to Israel?"): "I will give you a straight answer, because you deserve one: I do not take my orders from AIPAC or any other lobby. Our foreign policy should be made in Washington, in the interest of the American people, not handed over to a foreign government or the groups that carry its water. Your representative should answer to the people of this district, and no one else."
Then: "And I do not think American families should keep paying for what Benjamin Netanyahu's government is doing. He is under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes. We send Israel's government billions in weapons and taxpayer dollars every year with almost no conditions and no accountability, and I would end that. I do not believe families here, the ones struggling to afford groceries and keep their hospitals open, should be footing that bill." And: "I want the hostages home. I want the killing to stop. I want safety and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But a real friend tells the truth, and the truth is that our weapons should come with our values attached." ⚠ **ATTRIBUTION CHECKED DELIBERATELY.** This host renders an "OTHER CANDIDATES ON FOREIGN POLICY" sidebar that caused a wrong-person attribution on another card. Here the position sits under her own name and heading, in her own first-person voice, above that sidebar, and the sidebar's entries belong to other candidates (Douglas Crockett and others). Her answer is hers.
Her campaign site's priorities page was returned by the research; not opened.
She has no federal voting record.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
[Position, published 2026-08-12] "I want safety and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike" (confirmed verbatim, above). No statement located on U.S. humanitarian funding or the aid pipeline specifically.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, published 2026-08-12] Notes that Netanyahu "is under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes," attributing the allegation rather than adopting it, and says "I want the killing to stop" (confirmed verbatim).
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, published 2026-08-12] The answer opens on lobbying: "I do not take my orders from AIPAC or any other lobby" (confirmed verbatim). Recorded as its own item.
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.
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