Don’t hold your breath for the House to move swiftly on new cryptocurrency laws and regulations if one of the most senior House Republicans has his way.

Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), the majority whip, spoke out in a post on X after federal officials announced a settlement and historic fine on Tuesday with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, that will see it booted from the U.S. amid allegations it helped terrorist networks like Hamas.

“Congress does not need to rewrite laws that work in the crypto space. Yesterday’s successful prosecution shows that when enforced, current laws are suitable to help weed out bad actors,” Emmer said.

Emmer, who came up short in his bid for the speakership just last month, added: “Congressional resources should instead be spent working to bring more crypto activity and opportunities onshore to bolster U.S. national security.”

Democrats, of course, see the situation quite differently. They argue that Congress must step in to the still-evolving space with new enforcement authorities and clearer regulatory direction.

“Law enforcement and national security officials need additional authorities and resources to pursue money laundering, sanctions evasion, & criminal activity facilitated through crypto,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in her own post after the Binance settlement.

Warren has led bipartisan legislationthat would crack down on the use of crypto in criminal activities, such as drug trafficking and money laundering.

The House Ethics committee announced Wednesday that it would not launch an investigation into Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) after he triggered a fire alarm during a chaotic vote on a stopgap government funding bill.

Bowman had been charged with a misdemeanor by the D.C. Attorney General last month over the fire alarm incident, kicking off the Ethics panel’s process for investigating a lawmaker. But the ethics committtee, which is evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, voted not to establish an investigative subpanel or deliver a report to the full House. Bowman pleaded guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge related to triggering the false fire alarm and agreed to pay the maximum fine.

“A majority of the Members of the Committee did not agree to establish an [Investigative Subcommittee] or report to the House regarding Representative Bowman’s conduct,” said Ethics Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and ranking member Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.).

Bowman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has said that he did not intend to obstruct or delay congressional proceedings when he triggered the alarm, as many of his Republican critics have charged.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and several dozen European colleagues on Wednesday condemned what they called an “alarming rise” in antisemitic and anti-Muslim bigotry and violence since Hamas’ October attack against Israel.

“We are proud to represent diverse constituencies in vibrant democracies. None of this is acceptable,” a joint statement reads. “We urge our governments to intensify all efforts to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities, to condemn these actions when they occur, and to implement our national strategies to combat the dark tide of bigotry and hatred.”

The officials cited a tripling in antisemitic hate crime investigations in New York and London since the recent terrorist attacks, as well as a documented 1,040 antisemitic incidents in France in the month since the Hamas assault.

The leaders specifically condemned the U.S.-based killings of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in Illinois and Paul Kessler, a Jewish man, in California. The FBI and Homeland Security Department have warned the ongoing conflict could fuel more hate crimes with FBI Director Christopher Wray telling a Senate panel that antisemitic threats are at “historic levels.”

Lawmakers who joined with Cardin in signing the statement hail from Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, the European Parliament, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

House China Select Committee Chair Mike Gallagher and six panel Republicans are pushing congressional leaders to approve $12 billion for the Indo-Pacific beyond the $2 billion President Joe Biden asked for in his $106 billion emergency aid request.

In a Sunday letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, Gallagher (R-Wis.) and his colleagues panned Biden’s request as “wholly inadequate.”

An ‘afterthought’? The hawkish call is coming just days after President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit, partially in an effort to calm fears of a military confrontation in the region. It’s also coming amid headlines out of Congress on aid debates for Israel, Ukraine and the border, while the Taiwan portion has received less attention. Gallagher pressed the leaders on making sure the region didn’t hit the backburner.

“The Indo-Pacific, our priority theater, must not be an afterthought,” the letter reads. “In order to safeguard peace in Asia and deter conflict on a scale we have not seen in generations, we must act before it is too late. For while deterrence may be hard, war is hell. We must enhance the Indo-Pacific supplemental request and treat the [Beijing] threat with the gravity it deserves.”

The letter noted that in recent months, Beijing “orchestrated” a number of near-collisions with U.S. ships and aircraft, and it harassed Philippine resupply ships in the South China Sea. The country is also strengthening ties with Moscow and building up militarily “at warp speed.”

Make more munitions: The lawmakers argued that another $10 billion is needed to boost the U.S. military presence in the region — but mostly to crank up production and build factories for Indo-Pacific Command munitions.

The signatories also called for another $2 billion to replace weapons sent to Taiwan this year from U.S. military stockpiles. Additionally, they asked for Congress to authorize Biden to send another $650 million’s worth.

“Under [presidential drawdown authority], existing U.S. stocks of air defense systems, command-and-control equipment, gear for Taiwan’s reserve forces, land- and sea-based mines, and multiple launch rocket system vehicles could bolster Taiwan’s forces tomorrow,” he wrote.

Golf clap: The lawmakers support the $2 billion already in the request, for Pacific allies to buy American-made weaponry, which they said will fast-track the delivery of “harpoon coastal defense cruise missile systems, mine-laying systems, air defense weapons, anti-armor systems, drone systems, and multiple launch rocket systems” to Taiwan and elsewhere.

The request’s $3.4 billion for submarine industrial base investments to help implement the three-nation AUKUS pact with Australia and the U.K., also had their approval.

Who signed: Reps. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.), Darin LaHood (R-Ill.), Neal Dunn (R-Fla.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) and Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) also signed the letter.

Correction: An earlier version of this blog post misstated the signatories of a letter led by House China Chair Mike Gallagher, due to incorrect information provided to POLITICO.

President Joe Biden directed top officials to prepare visa bans and sanctions for extremist Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an internal document read to POLITICO.

The Cabinet memo, sent to senior aides like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, orders their agencies “to develop policy options for expeditious action against those responsible for the conduct of violence in the West Bank.”

A senior U.S. official read sections of the memo to POLITICO on Saturday evening shortly after Biden published an op-ed in The Washington Post revealing his intentions for such a move. “The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he wrote in the op-ed.

The directive comes as the Biden administration aims to show that it’s supporting Palestinian civilians in need, even as it staunchly defends Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, and while members of the president’s party seek conditions on military aid to Washington’s ally.

The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”

The memo notes that Biden sees the settler-violence issue as a “serious threat” to peace among Israelis and Palestinians and destabilizing throughout the Middle East.

The decision to issue the directive came after intense debate on the topic, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy Jon Finer offering their direct input during a dedicated internal process, the official said.

POLITICO has not seen the memo, and the official was granted anonymity to read from a sensitive internal document. The White House declined to comment.

Israeli settlers have been moving into the West Bank for years, and incidents of violence were already growing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power nearly a year ago. But the intensity of the long-running issue has grown since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, reports that 197 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers or Israeli forces since Oct. 7. The United Nations reports that, in the same time frame, at least 121 Palestinian households — about 1,150 people, including 452 children — have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.

Daily incidents of settler violence rose from three a day earlier this year to seven since the attacks, per the United Nations. About 11 Palestinian communities have been completely abandoned in 2023 alone, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, six of them since Hamas’ assault.

Biden has often condemned the rise in violence. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said in October, equating the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”

“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop. They have to be held accountable,” Biden added.

On Friday, Blinken urged the Israeli government to confront “rising levels of settler extremist violence” during a call with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

The president initially stood firmly behind Israel, saying it needed to strike back at the militant group in Gaza. Later, the administration faced pressure to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis, eventually working with regional partners to get aid into Gaza for its 2.3 million residents starved of food, water, fuel and medical attention.

That was too little too late for some Biden voters who say they won’t pull the lever for him in 2024 over this Israel-Hamas policy.

Pressure from within Biden’s party is also mounting in Congress. Two Democrats on Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent a letter urging him to do more to curb settler violence.

Progressives want the administration to call for a cease-fire in the war that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Gaza health authorities. Mainstream Democrats in the Senate and House are quietly discussing how to impose conditions on future military aid to Israel.

On Saturday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who this week held a lunch for Senate Democrats to discuss the war, said he supported certain conditions like Israel halting settler violence and “an end to the indiscriminate bombing.”

President Joe Biden directed top officials to prepare visa bans and sanctions for extremist Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an internal document read to POLITICO.

The Cabinet memo, sent to senior aides like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, orders their agencies “to develop policy options for expeditious action against those responsible for the conduct of violence in the West Bank.”

A senior U.S. official read sections of the memo to POLITICO on Saturday evening shortly after Biden published an op-ed in The Washington Post revealing his intentions for such a move. “The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he wrote in the op-ed.

The directive comes as the Biden administration aims to show that it’s supporting Palestinian civilians in need, even as it staunchly defends Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, and while members of the president’s party seek conditions on military aid to Washington’s ally.

The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”

The memo notes that Biden sees the settler-violence issue as a “serious threat” to peace among Israelis and Palestinians and destabilizing throughout the Middle East.

The decision to issue the directive came after intense debate on the topic, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy Jon Finer offering their direct input during a dedicated internal process, the official said.

POLITICO has not seen the memo, and the official was granted anonymity to read from a sensitive internal document. The White House declined to comment.

Israeli settlers have been moving into the West Bank for years, and incidents of violence were already growing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power nearly a year ago. But the intensity of the long-running issue has grown since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, reports that 197 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers or Israeli forces since Oct. 7. The United Nations reports that, in the same time frame, at least 121 Palestinian households — about 1,150 people, including 452 children — have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.

Daily incidents of settler violence rose from three a day earlier this year to seven since the attacks, per the United Nations. About 11 Palestinian communities have been completely abandoned in 2023 alone, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, six of them since Hamas’ assault.

Biden has often condemned the rise in violence. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said in October, equating the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”

“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop. They have to be held accountable,” Biden added.

On Friday, Blinken urged the Israeli government to confront “rising levels of settler extremist violence” during a call with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

The president initially stood firmly behind Israel, saying it needed to strike back at the militant group in Gaza. Later, the administration faced pressure to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis, eventually working with regional partners to get aid into Gaza for its 2.3 million residents starved of food, water, fuel and medical attention.

That was too little too late for some Biden voters who say they won’t pull the lever for him in 2024 over this Israel-Hamas policy.

Pressure from within Biden’s party is also mounting in Congress. Two Democrats on Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent a letter urging him to do more to curb settler violence.

Progressives want the administration to call for a cease-fire in the war that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Gaza health authorities. Mainstream Democrats in the Senate and House are quietly discussing how to impose conditions on future military aid to Israel.

On Saturday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who this week held a lunch for Senate Democrats to discuss the war, said he supported certain conditions like Israel halting settler violence and “an end to the indiscriminate bombing.”

President Joe Biden directed top officials to prepare visa bans and sanctions for extremist Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an internal document read to POLITICO.

The Cabinet memo, sent to senior aides like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, orders their agencies “to develop policy options for expeditious action against those responsible for the conduct of violence in the West Bank.”

A senior U.S. official read sections of the memo to POLITICO on Saturday evening shortly after Biden published an op-ed in The Washington Post revealing his intentions for such a move. “The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he wrote in the op-ed.

The directive comes as the Biden administration aims to show that it’s supporting Palestinian civilians in need, even as it staunchly defends Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, and while members of the president’s party seek conditions on military aid to Washington’s ally.

The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”

The memo notes that Biden sees the settler-violence issue as a “serious threat” to peace among Israelis and Palestinians and destabilizing throughout the Middle East.

The decision to issue the directive came after intense debate on the topic, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy Jon Finer offering their direct input during a dedicated internal process, the official said.

POLITICO has not seen the memo, and the official was granted anonymity to read from a sensitive internal document. The White House declined to comment.

Israeli settlers have been moving into the West Bank for years, and incidents of violence were already growing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power nearly a year ago. But the intensity of the long-running issue has grown since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, reports that 197 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers or Israeli forces since Oct. 7. The United Nations reports that, in the same time frame, at least 121 Palestinian households — about 1,150 people, including 452 children — have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.

Daily incidents of settler violence rose from three a day earlier this year to seven since the attacks, per the United Nations. About 11 Palestinian communities have been completely abandoned in 2023 alone, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, six of them since Hamas’ assault.

Biden has often condemned the rise in violence. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said in October, equating the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”

“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop. They have to be held accountable,” Biden added.

On Friday, Blinken urged the Israeli government to confront “rising levels of settler extremist violence” during a call with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

The president initially stood firmly behind Israel, saying it needed to strike back at the militant group in Gaza. Later, the administration faced pressure to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis, eventually working with regional partners to get aid into Gaza for its 2.3 million residents starved of food, water, fuel and medical attention.

That was too little too late for some Biden voters who say they won’t pull the lever for him in 2024 over this Israel-Hamas policy.

Pressure from within Biden’s party is also mounting in Congress. Two Democrats on Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent a letter urging him to do more to curb settler violence.

Progressives want the administration to call for a cease-fire in the war that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Gaza health authorities. Mainstream Democrats in the Senate and House are quietly discussing how to impose conditions on future military aid to Israel.

On Saturday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who this week held a lunch for Senate Democrats to discuss the war, said he supported certain conditions like Israel halting settler violence and “an end to the indiscriminate bombing.”

President Joe Biden directed top officials to prepare visa bans and sanctions for extremist Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an internal document read to POLITICO.

The Cabinet memo, sent to senior aides like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, orders their agencies “to develop policy options for expeditious action against those responsible for the conduct of violence in the West Bank.”

A senior U.S. official read sections of the memo to POLITICO on Saturday evening shortly after Biden published an op-ed in The Washington Post revealing his intentions for such a move. “The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he wrote in the op-ed.

The directive comes as the Biden administration aims to show that it’s supporting Palestinian civilians in need, even as it staunchly defends Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, and while members of the president’s party seek conditions on military aid to Washington’s ally.

The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”

The memo notes that Biden sees the settler-violence issue as a “serious threat” to peace among Israelis and Palestinians and destabilizing throughout the Middle East.

The decision to issue the directive came after intense debate on the topic, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy Jon Finer offering their direct input during a dedicated internal process, the official said.

POLITICO has not seen the memo, and the official was granted anonymity to read from a sensitive internal document. The White House declined to comment.

Israeli settlers have been moving into the West Bank for years, and incidents of violence were already growing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power nearly a year ago. But the intensity of the long-running issue has grown since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, reports that 197 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers or Israeli forces since Oct. 7. The United Nations reports that, in the same time frame, at least 121 Palestinian households — about 1,150 people, including 452 children — have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.

Daily incidents of settler violence rose from three a day earlier this year to seven since the attacks, per the United Nations. About 11 Palestinian communities have been completely abandoned in 2023 alone, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, six of them since Hamas’ assault.

Biden has often condemned the rise in violence. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said in October, equating the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”

“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop. They have to be held accountable,” Biden added.

On Friday, Blinken urged the Israeli government to confront “rising levels of settler extremist violence” during a call with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

The president initially stood firmly behind Israel, saying it needed to strike back at the militant group in Gaza. Later, the administration faced pressure to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis, eventually working with regional partners to get aid into Gaza for its 2.3 million residents starved of food, water, fuel and medical attention.

That was too little too late for some Biden voters who say they won’t pull the lever for him in 2024 over this Israel-Hamas policy.

Pressure from within Biden’s party is also mounting in Congress. Two Democrats on Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent a letter urging him to do more to curb settler violence.

Progressives want the administration to call for a cease-fire in the war that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Gaza health authorities. Mainstream Democrats in the Senate and House are quietly discussing how to impose conditions on future military aid to Israel.

On Saturday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who this week held a lunch for Senate Democrats to discuss the war, said he supported certain conditions like Israel halting settler violence and “an end to the indiscriminate bombing.”

President Joe Biden directed top officials to prepare visa bans and sanctions for extremist Israeli settlers attacking and displacing Palestinians in the West Bank, according to an internal document read to POLITICO.

The Cabinet memo, sent to senior aides like Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday, orders their agencies “to develop policy options for expeditious action against those responsible for the conduct of violence in the West Bank.”

A senior U.S. official read sections of the memo to POLITICO on Saturday evening shortly after Biden published an op-ed in The Washington Post revealing his intentions for such a move. “The United States is prepared to take our own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he wrote in the op-ed.

The directive comes as the Biden administration aims to show that it’s supporting Palestinian civilians in need, even as it staunchly defends Israel’s retaliation against Hamas, and while members of the president’s party seek conditions on military aid to Washington’s ally.

The targets for reprimands are broadly defined in the memo. They include people or entities that “have directly or indirectly engaged in actions or policies that threaten the security or stability of the West Bank,” take “actions that intimidate civilians in the West Bank with the purpose or effect of forcing displacement actions in the West Bank,” or make moves “that constitute human rights abuses or violations and actions that significantly obstruct, disrupt or prevent efforts to achieve a two-state solution.”

The memo notes that Biden sees the settler-violence issue as a “serious threat” to peace among Israelis and Palestinians and destabilizing throughout the Middle East.

The decision to issue the directive came after intense debate on the topic, with national security adviser Jake Sullivan and deputy Jon Finer offering their direct input during a dedicated internal process, the official said.

POLITICO has not seen the memo, and the official was granted anonymity to read from a sensitive internal document. The White House declined to comment.

Israeli settlers have been moving into the West Bank for years, and incidents of violence were already growing after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power nearly a year ago. But the intensity of the long-running issue has grown since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people.

Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, reports that 197 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers or Israeli forces since Oct. 7. The United Nations reports that, in the same time frame, at least 121 Palestinian households — about 1,150 people, including 452 children — have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions.

Daily incidents of settler violence rose from three a day earlier this year to seven since the attacks, per the United Nations. About 11 Palestinian communities have been completely abandoned in 2023 alone, according to the West Bank Protection Consortium, six of them since Hamas’ assault.

Biden has often condemned the rise in violence. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said in October, equating the attacks to “pouring gasoline on fire.”

“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled to be, and it has to stop. They have to be held accountable,” Biden added.

On Friday, Blinken urged the Israeli government to confront “rising levels of settler extremist violence” during a call with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz.

The president initially stood firmly behind Israel, saying it needed to strike back at the militant group in Gaza. Later, the administration faced pressure to alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis, eventually working with regional partners to get aid into Gaza for its 2.3 million residents starved of food, water, fuel and medical attention.

That was too little too late for some Biden voters who say they won’t pull the lever for him in 2024 over this Israel-Hamas policy.

Pressure from within Biden’s party is also mounting in Congress. Two Democrats on Thursday, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.), sent a letter urging him to do more to curb settler violence.

Progressives want the administration to call for a cease-fire in the war that has killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Hamas-led Gaza health authorities. Mainstream Democrats in the Senate and House are quietly discussing how to impose conditions on future military aid to Israel.

On Saturday evening, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who this week held a lunch for Senate Democrats to discuss the war, said he supported certain conditions like Israel halting settler violence and “an end to the indiscriminate bombing.”