Glenn Grothman
R · U.S. House, WI-6 · Tier 1/2
Tier 1/2, between “Firmly pro-Israel” and “Mainstream pro-Israel”
When the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee took a position calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, he answered in an official statement that “When Hamas intentionally hides behind civilians, inevitably casualties result. Perhaps UWM history professors can remind its leadership of the consequences faced by their own country during the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” adding that Israel “has the right to demand unconditional surrender” (May 2024). He called Biden’s May 2024 arms pause “unconscionable,” saying “Israel’s stated goal, rightly, is to eradicate Hamas” and that “the rest of the war effort would be in vain” without entering Rafah, and a year after October 7 said the conflict “could end anytime if Hamas surrendered” (Oct 2024). He voted for both Israel-only supplementals, the April 2024 package (H.R.8034), the bill to force the paused bomb shipment (H.R.8369), both ICC-sanctions bills, H.Res.894 and the September 2026 college anti-boycott bill, against the 2025 Greene and 2026 Massie cuts, and did not vote on the Antisemitism Awareness Act. In January 2024 he signed the Smith–Manning letter, whose signers “thoroughly reject” South Africa’s “charge of genocide” against Israel.
A 1/2, not a clean 1. Grothman has voted for every tracked Israel measure but one he missed, the 2024 Antisemitism Awareness Act: both Israel-only supplementals, the April 2024 package, the bill forcing the paused bomb shipment and both ICC-sanctions bills, with Nos on the 2025 Greene and 2026 Massie cuts. His hardest words are two written statements from May 2024: he called Biden’s arms pause “unconscionable,” and answered a university’s ceasefire call by writing that when Hamas hides behind civilians “inevitably casualties result,” pointing to “Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” They were deliberate, but that register is not his brand: his later statements, including on the second anniversary of October 7, are routine support. He has written no Israel bill and leads no Israel caucus, but he filed an amendment, never made in order, that would have barred refugee or asylum status for “any holder of a travel document issued by the Palestinian National Authority” (June 2024), and as chair of an Oversight subcommittee he used a March 2024 foreign-aid hearing to press the case against UNRWA funding and “a supposed humanitarian aid port” for Gaza. No concern for Palestinian civilians appears in his record. Counter-case: a 1 if one written comparison of Gaza to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, made during the genocide, is enough on its own to mark him as a hardliner.
Open the full card, with votes, money and every source, on elect26 →
elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).