House Republicans’ push to impeach Joe Biden this year is going nowhere. So they’ve set their sights on another goal: Helping Donald Trump land blows on Biden if he wins back the White House.

The impeachment process is stalled amid intraparty skepticism, and Republicans’ primary backup plan — criminal referrals to the Department of Justice, including for Hunter Biden and potentially even Joe Biden — is also unlikely to go anywhere with the latter in office.

Against that backdrop, Republicans are outlining a growing wish list they’re hoping to see Trump’s administration deliver on if he is back in power next year, no matter which party controls Congress. Those goals include helping GOP lawmakers get the audio of Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur; reshaping the DOJ and FBI in a more conservative mold; and pursuing further investigations that stem from Republicans’ sprawling impeachment inquiry, even with Joe Biden out of office.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said he doesn’t expect any action from the DOJ on the party’s Biden-related criminal referrals this year. But he’s looking forward to Trump picking up the matter from the White House.

“Next year. It’s not going to happen under this administration,” Norman said. He succinctly summed up the prospects of federal prosecutions stemming from GOP criminal referrals: “Under Trump? Yeah. But not under this administration.”

Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) pointed to the Biden White House’s assertion of executive privilege to prevent the release of the audio from the president’s interview with Hur, which has prompted House Republicans to advance contempt findings against Attorney General Merrick Garland, who did hand over the transcript.

“Under a Trump presidency,” Armstrong predicted, “that gets litigated.”

Republican lawmakers have plenty of evidence to suggest that, even with Joe Biden out of office, Trump would still want the DOJ focused on payback against his defeated foe or his current prosecutors — particularly following his conviction last week on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The former president has repeatedly promised just that in social media posts, publicly warning last year that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into him would result in “repercussions far greater than anything that Biden or his Thugs could understand” before adding: “This is a Pandora’s Box, that works two ways, and it should be closed and tightly sealed RIGHT NOW.”

Some top GOP lawmakers are even homing in on the specific Biden investigative findings they plan to highlight for a potential Trump presidency, even as some Republican colleagues acknowledge they remain short of any proof of criminal wrongdoing by Joe Biden. (Hunter Biden, for his part, is in court this week for a trial on federal gun charges and is set for a second tax-related trial later this year.)

House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who wrote in a fundraising email earlier this year that Republicans would give “new leadership at the DOJ … everything they need” for prosecutions, doubled down on that plan in an interview by promising to include material from a recent Hunter Biden-related document dump by the Ways and Means Committee, which has been receiving information from IRS whistleblowers.

The criminal referrals that Republicans are planning to send DOJ “don’t expire” this year, Comer said, adding that if the Biden DOJ doesn’t “try to uphold the law … maybe the next one will.”

Republican investigators’ heightened focus on a potential Trump win comes as a growing number of their colleagues acknowledge they don’t have the votes to impeach Biden this year. They are preparing to recommend Garland be held in contempt as soon as next week after the DOJ turned over the Hur-Biden transcript but not the audio, but don’t yet have GOP support locked down for even that step.

Even if they manage to land a political blow on Garland, who is all but guaranteed to not face criminal charges, Republicans are in the dark about when, or how, the larger Biden investigation wraps.

“It’s this glacier that we’re on. People like to stop and make ice cubes sometimes, but it still keeps moving along kind of slow,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) said about the state of the inquiry.

Despite that largely frozen impeachment, Republicans are quietly conducting a multi-pronged probe of Biden and his family behind the scenes. Comer recently disclosed that he had issued a new subpoena for bank records and said, in an interview, he is sorting through a sweep of documents furnished by former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer, all of which will shape a forthcoming report on the inquiry.

Comer has also insisted that impeachment is still on the table. And in the Judiciary Committee, two Republicans said they still expected the panel to hold hearings on articles of impeachment once the Oversight panel has released its findings. Jordan, asked about that, said “everything is on the table.”

He also said investigators would publicly release a “packet of materials” about their findings from the Biden administration —which could serve as fodder for a future Trump administration. The Judiciary panel is still locked in a court battle for the closed-door testimony of two DOJ tax attorneys who are involved in the years-long Hunter Biden federal investigation.

But underscoring the political pitfalls Republicans face, Comer is facing early pushback from the White House on ethics legislation he released with Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) that would require presidents release their tax returns — something Trump refused to do — and put more financial disclosure rules in place for family members.

That bipartisan bill has an unclear path forward after getting early resistance from some corners of the House Democratic caucus and skepticism from the White House.

“It applies to Trump in the same manner,” Comer said of the bill. “I think it would be hard to explain to the American people why you wouldn’t support it.”

As Comer separately touts his future criminal referrals as possible bread crumbs for a Trump return to office, he’s getting some backup from the right flank of the conference that has pushed quixotically for impeachment this year.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), for one, has said the GOP should put lawmakers on the record even if a Joe Biden impeachment vote fails. He separately expressed hope that, “while we probably don’t have the votes for impeachment,” any criminal referrals that spawn from the inquiry “would still be available for a new [attorney general].”

Trump allies off Capitol Hill have particularly leaned on Jordan to use his congressional perch to investigate the Trump investigators, arguing that his work could be used as the basis for renewed investigations in 2025. And Jordan took new steps on that front following Trump’s New York felony convictions, pushing for testimony from top prosecutors.

But when it comes to the Biden impeachment inquiry, House Republicans continue to face a steady stream of criticism from Fox News and other conservative media outlets about their failure to deliver on a big promise to the party base. Even some members of the House’s right flank have publicly kvetched that they believe it should have moved faster and been more aggressive.

Jordan said in a brief interview that he was “sure” a Trump administration would be more willing to re-investigate some of the GOP’s biggest sore spots or hand over information Republicans have sought. Providing information that a previous president asserted executive privilege over while in office would be a historic step — but one Democrats acknowledge is a possibility.

House Republicans have also hinted they would sue the Biden administration over the Hur-Biden audio this year, but the resulting court fight could drag on for months.

Jordan also predicted that Trump would remake the DOJ, which Republicans have increasingly soured on since Trump first rode to power in 2016. The House GOP’s right flank wanted to overhaul the DOJ and the FBI more quickly this Congress, but those proposals have stalled thanks to opposition from the Democrat-controlled Senate and White House — and resistance from some Republican colleagues about compromising the agencies’ independence.

Republicans are planning to try to use the upcoming government funding debate to try to target Smith’s probe, as well as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s, but face the same hurdles.

“I think a Trump administration means a change in these agencies. … That’s a big part of it,” Jordan said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday accepted an invitation from congressional leaders to address a joint session, a decision that has sparked tension within the Democratic Party over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “present the truth” to Congress about the “just war” that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. In the months following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, at least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, while millions of others have fled from their homes.

“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress. The Democratic Party has splintered over U.S. support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza, particularly after recent strikes in a designated safe zone for Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah that reportedly killed at least 45 people.

Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been outspoken in his disapproval of U.S. military support for Israel’s war, denounced the invitation.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders wrote in a post to X.

Sanders also referenced the International Criminal Court’s seeking arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes committed on both sides.

“The ICC is seeking warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “The ICC is right. Both of these people are engaged in clear and outrageous violations of international law.”

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have signaled that they would likely skip Netanyahu’s address.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has called for Netanyahu’s resignation, responded with a decisive “no” last month when asked if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should sign onto Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation letter to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s upcoming address marks the fourth time the leader will address a joint session of Congress, making him the first head of state to do so.

Nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s last address in 2015, orchestrated by Republicans behind then-President Barack Obama’s back in an attempt to lobby against his signing onto the Iran nuclear deal.

Yes, there’s a big hearing involving a senior Biden administration official Tuesday at the House Judiciary Committee. (Playbook has you covered pre-hearing.) But Merrick Garland’s not the only big name headed to the Hill. The lineup for your scheduling needs:

Senate Foreign Relations will have a 10:30 a.m. closed briefing on China with U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns.
VA Secretary Denis McDonough and VA Inspector General Michael Missal testify at the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee at 10:15 a.m.
Senate Appropriations subcommittees hold hearings Tuesday with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
CBO Director Phillip Swagel and Social Security Administration Chief Actuary Stephen Goss testify at House Ways and Means at 11 a.m.

Spending cycle: House Republicans hope to approve their MilCon-VA bill on the floor by Wednesday afternoon, when the House is set to leave town. It’s the first of a group that appropriators are trying to clear the floor by the end of the month, with State-Foreign Operations and Homeland Security, getting subcommittee markups Tuesday. Text of House Republicans’ Defense and Financial Services measures are expected Tuesday as well ahead of Wednesday subcommittee action.

Border rebuttal: Senate Republicans are preparing their rebuttal to Biden’s anticipated executive order action on the southern border, with a press conference scheduled for 10 a.m. Led by Texas Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz they’ll declare Biden’s action “too little too late.”

Primary picture: We’re also watching primaries in Montana, Iowa, New Mexico, New Jersey and South Dakota.

Two Iowa Republicans are facing challenges from the right: David Pautch is making a longshot challenge to oust Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and Rep. Randy Feenstra is facing Kevin Virgil, who has the backing of former Rep. Steve King and Vivek Ramaswamy

Keep an eye on Montana, too, where a whole slate of contenders is vying for the GOP nomination to replace Rep. Matt Rosendale. And in New Jersey, Herb Conaway Jr. and Carol Murphy are the leading contenders for Rep. Andy Kim’s (D-N.J.) 3rd District seat as he runs for Senate.

On both sides of the Capitol, most Republicans say former President Donald Trump’s criminal conviction in New York is politically motivated rather than a substantive case. And the GOP racked in fundraising after Trump was found guilty.

Yet just as Democrats weigh how much to talk about Trump on the trail this fall, Republicans are deep in their own open debate about just how much the verdict will matter on Election Day. Many GOP senators want to talk about the economy and President Joe Biden’s record — not litigate the first felony conviction of a former president.

The GOP has spent months upon months laying the groundwork to make this fall’s election a referendum on Biden, talking relentlessly about stubborn inflation and spiking migration. Quite a few Republicans see those issues as more advantageous ground than defending the party’s nominee after a conviction on 34 counts of falsifying records related to hush money payments to a porn star.

In Sen. Jerry Moran’s (R-Kan.) view: “The best campaign in 2024 is to point out the economic circumstances that we’re in. And the policies of the Biden administration.”

And Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) put it this way: “The big mistake that we make is to shift our attention away from a failing economy of failing global stature all the way back to retrograde in Afghanistan,” adding that “Trump wins if we focus on those issues.”

They’re not necessarily going to win the day in the party, though. Some Republicans want Trump’s conviction to be a central element of the party’s message over the next five months, seeing the potential for more fundraising bumps and base-motivating political gold.

“If anything, it’s going to have a positive impact,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said. “You don’t have to look further than the fundraising. Set that aside: This is firing people up.”

Several GOP senators went up to New York to show solidarity with the former president during the trial, and many issued rancorous statements last week backing up Trump. Yet in the end, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) predicted the trial verdict will be a “blip” on the national conscience come November, with the election being fought over the border and the economy, among other issues.

Marshall suggested Trump’s vice presidential pick would have a greater impact on the election than the felony convictions.

“That’s a bigger deal than at this point than what this verdict is. There’s this 15 to 20 percent of people in primaries who are still voting for Nikki Haley. How do we reach out to that group?” Marshall said. “That’s a bigger issue than this verdict.”

Of course, even if GOP senators who want to focus elsewhere win the messaging battle here, they can’t escape the trial entirely — congressional Republicans and Trump still have to share a ticket in November. It’s clear where Trump’s head is at, as he decries his treatment by the court and his party fundraises off the issue.

If Trump keeps that up, it’s going to be hard for Republicans to talk only about the economy, immigration and Biden’s record.

“Absolutely, we should talk about it,” said Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) of Trump’s guilty verdict.

Red-state campaign watch: In two key Senate races, Republican candidates are moving to make the guilty verdict a central issue on the trail. Tim Sheehy in Montana and Bernie Moreno in Ohio both launched ads Monday hitting Democratic Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, asserting they support the “witch hunt” against Trump.

The Moreno spend is a five-figure digital ad, part of a larger seven-figure buy.

Tester responded to the Montana ad by saying that Sheehy has a “problem with the truth” and said that he “paid no attention” to the trial while it was happening.

“Like everybody else, President Trump has the ability to appeal it and in the end the final arbitrator will be the voters in November. It doesn’t matter what I believe,” Tester said.

Congressional leaders are still working to finalize a date for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver a joint address to Congress, according to Speaker Mike Johnson‘s office.

That comes after a person familiar with the planning initially indicated Netanyahu would speak to Congress on June 13, as President Joe Biden pushes both the allied country and Hamas to agree to the terms of a permanent ceasefire. That date, however, would fall on the Jewish holiday of Shavuot.

“The Speaker’s office is still coordinating with all relevant parties to establish a date for Prime Minister Netanyahu to deliver a joint address to Congress,” a spokesperson for Johnson said on Monday. “We will announce a date once it is finalized.”

The prime minister’s office confirmed in an email to POLITICO that no date has yet been set for the address.

The four leaders of Congress issued the joint invitation on Friday and Netanyahu accepted over the weekend.

Democrats have been split over support for Israel since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, with many liberals lambasting Netanyahu’s harsh tactics in a war that has led to tens of thousands of deaths in Palestine. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an outspoken progressive, said he wouldn’t attend the prime minister’s address.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal,” Sanders said in a statement over the weekend. “He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend.”

Meanwhile, Biden is pushing a permanent cease-fire agreement that Israel’s war cabinet proposed against Netanyahu’s wishes. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that if Hamas accepts the deal to end the Gaza war, he expects Israel to accept the plan, too.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday accepted an invitation from congressional leaders to address a joint session, a decision that has sparked tension within the Democratic Party over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “present the truth” to Congress about the “just war” that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. In the months following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, at least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, while millions of others have fled from their homes.

“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress. The Democratic Party has splintered over U.S. support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza, particularly after recent strikes in a designated safe zone for Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah that reportedly killed at least 45 people.

Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been outspoken in his disapproval of U.S. military support for Israel’s war, denounced the invitation.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders wrote in a post to X.

Sanders also referenced the International Criminal Court’s seeking arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes committed on both sides.

“The ICC is seeking warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “The ICC is right. Both of these people are engaged in clear and outrageous violations of international law.”

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have signaled that they would likely skip Netanyahu’s address.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has called for Netanyahu’s resignation, responded with a decisive “no” last month when asked if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should sign onto Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation letter to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s upcoming address marks the fourth time the leader will address a joint session of Congress, making him the first head of state to do so.

Nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s last address in 2015, orchestrated by Republicans behind then-President Barack Obama’s back in an attempt to lobby against his signing onto the Iran nuclear deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday accepted an invitation from congressional leaders to address a joint session, a decision that has sparked tension within the Democratic Party over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “present the truth” to Congress about the “just war” that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. In the months following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, at least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, while millions of others have fled from their homes.

“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress. The Democratic Party has splintered over U.S. support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza, particularly after recent strikes in a designated safe zone for Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah that reportedly killed at least 45 people.

Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been outspoken in his disapproval of U.S. military support for Israel’s war, denounced the invitation.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders wrote in a post to X.

Sanders also referenced the International Criminal Court’s seeking arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes committed on both sides.

“The ICC is seeking warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “The ICC is right. Both of these people are engaged in clear and outrageous violations of international law.”

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have signaled that they would likely skip Netanyahu’s address.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has called for Netanyahu’s resignation, responded with a decisive “no” last month when asked if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should sign onto Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation letter to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s upcoming address marks the fourth time the leader will address a joint session of Congress, making him the first head of state to do so.

Nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s last address in 2015, orchestrated by Republicans behind then-President Barack Obama’s back in an attempt to lobby against his signing onto the Iran nuclear deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday accepted an invitation from congressional leaders to address a joint session, a decision that has sparked tension within the Democratic Party over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “present the truth” to Congress about the “just war” that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. In the months following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, at least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, while millions of others have fled from their homes.

“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress. The Democratic Party has splintered over U.S. support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza, particularly after recent strikes in a designated safe zone for Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah that reportedly killed at least 45 people.

Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been outspoken in his disapproval of U.S. military support for Israel’s war, denounced the invitation.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders wrote in a post to X.

Sanders also referenced the International Criminal Court’s seeking arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes committed on both sides.

“The ICC is seeking warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “The ICC is right. Both of these people are engaged in clear and outrageous violations of international law.”

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have signaled that they would likely skip Netanyahu’s address.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has called for Netanyahu’s resignation, responded with a decisive “no” last month when asked if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should sign onto Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation letter to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s upcoming address marks the fourth time the leader will address a joint session of Congress, making him the first head of state to do so.

Nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s last address in 2015, orchestrated by Republicans behind then-President Barack Obama’s back in an attempt to lobby against his signing onto the Iran nuclear deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday accepted an invitation from congressional leaders to address a joint session, a decision that has sparked tension within the Democratic Party over Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza.

In a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Netanyahu wrote that he was looking forward to the opportunity to “present the truth” to Congress about the “just war” that Israel has been waging in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, when 1,200 Israelis were killed and 240 others were taken hostage. In the months following Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip, at least 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian health authorities, while millions of others have fled from their homes.

“I am very moved to have the privilege of representing Israel before both Houses of Congress and to present the truth about our just war against those who seek to destroy us to the representatives of the American people and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote.

Tensions have been mounting in recent weeks after Speaker Mike Johnson announced his plan to invite Netanyahu to address Congress. The Democratic Party has splintered over U.S. support for Israel in its ongoing war in Gaza, particularly after recent strikes in a designated safe zone for Palestinians in the southern city of Rafah that reportedly killed at least 45 people.

Progressives, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who has been outspoken in his disapproval of U.S. military support for Israel’s war, denounced the invitation.

“Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. He should not be invited to address a joint meeting of Congress. I certainly will not attend,” Sanders wrote in a post to X.

Sanders also referenced the International Criminal Court’s seeking arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for alleged war crimes committed on both sides.

“The ICC is seeking warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas,” Sanders wrote. “The ICC is right. Both of these people are engaged in clear and outrageous violations of international law.”

Other lawmakers, including Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) have signaled that they would likely skip Netanyahu’s address.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has called for Netanyahu’s resignation, responded with a decisive “no” last month when asked if Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer should sign onto Speaker Mike Johnson’s invitation letter to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s upcoming address marks the fourth time the leader will address a joint session of Congress, making him the first head of state to do so.

Nearly 60 Democrats boycotted Netanyahu’s last address in 2015, orchestrated by Republicans behind then-President Barack Obama’s back in an attempt to lobby against his signing onto the Iran nuclear deal.