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

Matthew Arndt

Green · U.S. House, Wisconsin District 6
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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: He names providing weapons for Israel's wars as something he will not compromise on and lists cutting ties with Israel as a red line; his call for strict conditions on foreign aid names no country and does not soften his Israel-specific opposition. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.

Arndt wrote in September 2026 that he would not compromise “simply to claim bipartisanship” if Washington wants to “fund endless wars or provide weapons for Israel's wars”. His platform lists “Cut Ties with Israel” among his red lines and defends criticism of the government of Israel.

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Deep Dive

Matthew Arndt is the Green Party nominee in Wisconsin's 6th District. He grew up in Green Bay, one of ten children, and is a certified public accountant who runs a tax and investment advisory firm. He advanced from the Green Party primary on August 11, 2026, where he was the only candidate. He has never held federal office, so there are no congressional votes on this record. He faces Representative Glenn Grothman, the Republican, Bradley Smith, the Democratic nominee, and two independents, Elizabeth Fitzgibbon and Mike Thurow, on November 3.

His plainest words on weapons came in a candidate questionnaire the Sheboygan Press published on September 21, 2026. Asked how he would work with people who disagree with him, he wrote: “If Washington wants to preserve monopolies, continue billionaire tax breaks, fund endless wars or provide weapons for Israel's wars, I will not compromise simply to claim bipartisanship.” Among his three priorities he listed ending "our forever wars", and he said he would "stop funding foreign conflicts that do not advance America's security."

His platform sets out eight "red lines", and the fifth is "Cut Ties with Israel". His home page puts it in a list: “Stop the endless wars. Cut ties with Israel.” The section of the platform headed "Cut Ties with Israel. End All Foreign Entanglements." does not say what cutting ties would involve, and it does not mention weapons, military aid, a dollar figure or a bill. Its one passage about money names no country. It says elected officials approve billions in foreign aid every year while telling Americans there is no money for health care, infrastructure, child care or public education, and goes on: “If taxpayer dollars are going overseas, there should be strict conditions, real accountability, and a clear benefit to the American people.”

The rest of that section is about speech. He writes: “Today, too many people hesitate to criticize the actions of the government of Israel for fear of backlash.” And: “We should be able to question any government’s policies—ally or adversary—without intimidation, and do it clearly, without confusing criticism of policy with prejudice against people.” He adds: “Demanding loyalty to the American people is not antisemitism.” His home page says America belongs to “Christians, Jews, Muslims, and the unaffiliated”.

Nothing located has him speaking to U.S. aid to Palestinians, and nothing on his site characterizes the war in Gaza. He did not answer WUWM's candidate questions or iVoterGuide's questionnaire, and he has not filled in Ballotpedia's; he did answer a family-policy questionnaire from the advocacy group 9to5, where he wrote of cutting off foreign countries without naming one. His campaign's account on X could not be read here; its address and the rest of what was checked are on his research page.

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 2026-09-27) 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

“If Washington wants to preserve monopolies, continue billionaire tax breaks, fund endless wars or provide weapons for Israel's wars, I will not compromise simply to claim bipartisanship.”
Source ↗, 2026-09-21
“Every year, our elected officials sign off on billions in foreign aid while telling Americans there’s “no money” for healthcare, infrastructure, childcare, or public education. That’s not a budget problem—it’s a priorities problem. If taxpayer dollars are going overseas, there should be strict conditions, real accountability, and a clear benefit to the American people.”
Source ↗, 2026-06-23
“Today, too many people hesitate to criticize the actions of the government of Israel for fear of backlash. That hesitation is not who we are. We should be able to question any government’s policies—ally or adversary—without intimidation, and do it clearly, without confusing criticism of policy with prejudice against people.”
Source ↗, 2026-06-23
“Patriotism is not extremism. Loving your nation is not racism. Demanding loyalty to the American people is not antisemitism.”
Source ↗, 2026-06-23

Research log

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

Our research for this card began with a search run on 2026-09-28, and every page below was opened and read on 2026-09-28 unless the entry says otherwise. His campaign site was read in full: its home page, Where I Stand, About Me, Join the Movement and the essay headed Two Parties One Master, which are all the pages it has other than a donation page; its news feed carries only placeholder posts from the website template. The site's pages carry a 2020 publication date in their metadata, which belongs to the template (its uploads folder dates from April 2026 and its text refers to 2026), so each page is dated here by its own last-modified date. Arndt has never held federal office, so none of the congressional votes this site tracks is his, and no funding from the committees this site tracks is recorded on this record. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated. Nothing located falls in the reaction window or earlier.

U.S. military aid and weapons to the government of Israel

  • [Position, 2026-09-21] The USA TODAY Network-Wisconsin candidate questionnaire, as published by the Sheboygan Press and carried by Yahoo News, by Alex Garner, published September 21, 2026. Asked "How would you work with people who disagree with you politically or personally to get results for constituents?", he said he would work with anyone of any party to improve the lives of the people he represents, but was not running to show the courage to compromise on fundamental principles, and went on: "If Washington wants to preserve monopolies, continue billionaire tax breaks, fund endless wars or provide weapons for Israel's wars, I will not compromise simply to claim bipartisanship. Some things are worth fighting for." Asked for his top three priorities, he named breaking up monopolies, Medicare for All and ending "our forever wars", writing: "Third, I would work to end our forever wars, reclaim Congress's constitutional war powers, reduce unnecessary military intervention, and stop funding foreign conflicts that do not advance America's security. Those resources should be invested here at home." He answered all five of the questionnaire's questions at length. The same questionnaire gives his residence as Mequon and his age as 54.
  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-06-23] His platform, Where I Stand, lists under "My Red Lines": Break up Monopolies; Medicare for All; Strong Wages Build Strong Communities; Stop Forever Wars; Cut Ties with Israel; Jail the Epstein Class; Halt AI Data Centers; Make Wall Street Pay Down the National Debt. The section headed "Cut Ties with Israel. End All Foreign Entanglements." does not define cutting ties and does not mention weapons, military aid, Foreign Military Financing, a dollar figure or a bill. Its passage on money, which names no country: “Those who should protect America’s interests instead grovel before foreign powers. Every year, our elected officials sign off on billions in foreign aid while telling Americans there’s “no money” for healthcare, infrastructure, childcare, or public education.” It continues: “That’s not a budget problem—it’s a priorities problem. If taxpayer dollars are going overseas, there should be strict conditions, real accountability, and a clear benefit to the American people.”
  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-06-19] His home page: “I’m here to bust up monopolies. Get us Medicare for All. Stop the endless wars. Cut ties with Israel. Jail the Epstein class.” The same page says putting the nation's people first means “taking care of our own people before another dime leaves this country” and “making sure no American family is abandoned while billions are shipped abroad”, naming no country.
  • [Undated; read 2026-09-28] The 9to5 advocacy group's 2026 Wisconsin candidate questionnaire, on child care, paid leave and maternal health, carries his answers. In the child care answer he writes: "We have spent trillions of dollars on foreign wars and military interventions. We give hundreds of billions to foreign countries every year." He proposes to "End foreign wars, aggressively enforce the tax laws against wealthy tax cheats, cut off foreign countries, ensure the wealthiest Americans pay the taxes they legally owe" and to spend the money on child care, education and health care. No country is named. The page carries no date.
  • [Position, 2026-07-14; updated 2026-08-13] WUWM's guide to the 6th District candidates, which spells his name Arendt in its headings, reports that his website lists his red lines including "cutting ties with Israel". It is WUWM's summary of his site, not a separate statement.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located, at any date. The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, humanitarian aid for Gaza and the aid pipeline appear nowhere in his published material, and the word Palestinian does not occur on his site.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located that names the war in Gaza. The word Gaza does not occur on his site.
  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-05-18] His essay on the two major parties says: "Some lines should never be crossed. Endless war, corruption, a genocide, corporate capture, attacks on working people, and policies that sacrifice human lives for power should never be rewarded with automatic loyalty." It does not say which genocide it means, and it is not read here as a characterization of any particular war.

Israel-related rhetoric and lobbying

  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-06-23] Where I Stand, in the same section: “Americans once feared offending a king. Now they fear offending a foreign country. This is alien to the American character.” And: “Today, too many people hesitate to criticize the actions of the government of Israel for fear of backlash. That hesitation is not who we are. We should be able to question any government’s policies—ally or adversary—without intimidation, and do it clearly, without confusing criticism of policy with prejudice against people.”
  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-06-19] His home page: “This country belongs to Americans, not lobbyists, not donors, not foreign interests.” It names no organization. No statement by him about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee by name was found.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not an answer to what America sends)

  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-06-23] Where I Stand: “Patriotism is not extremism. Loving your nation is not racism. Demanding loyalty to the American people is not antisemitism.”
  • [Position; the page was last modified 2026-06-19] His home page, under the heading America Only: “It belongs to Christians, Jews, Muslims, and the unaffiliated.” The paragraph ends: “And any politics that teaches us to hate each other is not patriotism. It is poison.”

What the campaign site and own pages say

  • [Read 2026-09-28] About Me: he grew up in Green Bay with nine siblings, is a CPA and runs a tax and investment advisory firm, and is running as a Green Party candidate. The rest of his platform is about monopolies, Medicare for All, wages and unions, the cost of foreign wars ("We’re fighting yesterday’s wars in the Middle East"), the Epstein files, AI data centers and the national debt.
  • [Read 2026-09-28] His Ballotpedia page records that he has not completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. iVoterGuide's profile of him marks all thirty-two questions "Did not answer", including one asking whether the United States' relationship with Israel is important; because he answered nothing on that form, this is a fact about the guide's coverage and not about his views. WUWM says he did not respond to its candidate questions; the questions it published answers to from another candidate are about domestic policy.
  • [Read 2026-09-28] PBS Wisconsin's candidate page gives endthecartel.com as his campaign website and https://x.com/endthecartel26 as his campaign's account on X.

The race

  • [Read 2026-09-28] Ballotpedia's page for the 2026 election in Wisconsin's 6th District: "Incumbent Glenn Grothman (R), Bradley Smith (D), Matthew Arndt (G), Elizabeth Fitzgibbon (Independent), and Mike Thurow (Independent) are running in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 6 on November 3, 2026." His Ballotpedia page records that he advanced from the Green Party primary on August 11, 2026 with 62 votes as the only candidate.

Places that could not be read, so nothing is claimed from them

  • The Sheboygan Press original of the September 21, 2026 questionnaire, https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/09/21/wisconsin-6th-congressional-district-candidates-grothman-smith-fitzgibbon-arndt-thurow/91788901007/ , redirects to a sign-in page on one attempt and is refused on the other. The same article, with a note that it originally appeared in the Sheboygan Press, opens on Yahoo News and is the copy used.
  • The recording of the League of Women Voters candidate forum at Ripon City Hall on September 16, 2026, which the Ripon Press announced he had agreed to join and which was streamed on the City of Ripon's YouTube channel. The recording was not located.
  • His campaign's account on X, https://x.com/endthecartel26 , linked from his campaign site and from PBS Wisconsin, returned a page with no readable posts. Its address is printed rather than linked because it does not open here.
  • https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/matthew-arndt , a host that does not render for us and that this project does not use.

Not on the card, and why

  • The two-party essay's reference to "a genocide": it names no war and no place, so it is not treated as a characterization of the war in Gaza.
  • His platform on monopolies, health care, wages, the Epstein files, AI data centers and the national debt: out of scope. Listed above so the rest of the record is checkable.
  • His remarks on the cost of wars in the Middle East and on China: about U.S. wars generally, naming no recipient of U.S. weapons or money.
  • WUWM's summary of his red lines: a third party describing his site, which is quoted directly instead.
  • Glenn Grothman's, Bradley Smith's, Elizabeth Fitzgibbon's and Mike Thurow's records belong on their own cards.

Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)

  • https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/wisconsin-6th-congressional-district-candidates-093116126.html (opened; 2026-09-28; published 2026-09-21; the Sheboygan Press article as syndicated, with the note that it originally appeared there)
  • https://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/news/politics/elections/2026/09/21/wisconsin-6th-congressional-district-candidates-grothman-smith-fitzgibbon-arndt-thurow/91788901007/ (could not open; 2026-09-28; the original, behind a sign-in wall)
  • https://endthecartel.com/ (opened; 2026-09-28; last modified 2026-06-19)
  • https://endthecartel.com/where-i-stand/ (opened; 2026-09-28; last modified 2026-06-23)
  • https://endthecartel.com/about-me/ , https://endthecartel.com/join-the-movement/ , https://endthecartel.com/the-two-party-circus/ and https://endthecartel.com/feed/ (opened; 2026-09-28)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Matthew_Arndt (opened; 2026-09-28)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Wisconsin%27s_6th_Congressional_District_election,_2026 (opened; 2026-09-28)
  • https://www.wuwm.com/wisconsins-6th-congressional-district-candidates-2026 (opened; 2026-09-28; published 2026-07-14, updated 2026-08-13)
  • https://ivoterguide.com/candidate/97380 (opened; 2026-09-28)
  • https://9to5.org/resource/2026-wisconsin-midterms-candidate-positions/ (opened; 2026-09-28; undated)
  • https://pbswisconsin.org/candidate/matthew-arndt/ (opened; 2026-09-28)
  • https://www.riponpress.com/news/congressional-candidate-forum-planned/article_6c7ed8d4-f862-4250-a5ca-49a9c4497ac7.html (opened; 2026-09-28)
  • https://x.com/endthecartel26 (opened, no readable posts; 2026-09-28)
  • https://www.localcandidates.org/politicians/matthew-arndt (not used; 2026-09-28)
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-09-28, not a claim that no other statement exists.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Glenn Grothman (Republican)
  2. ? Brad Smith (Democrat)
  3. – Elizabeth Anne Fitzgibbon (Independent)
  4. – Mike Thurow (Independent)

All Wisconsin 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.