Michael Baumgartner
R · U.S. House, WA-5 · Tier 1
Tier 1, “Firmly pro-Israel”
House Foreign Affairs Republican who sponsored H.Res.554 (June 2025, with Pfluger, Nunn, Lawler and Salazar), backing the U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites and “affirming unwavering support for the State of Israel's right to self-defense,” and who returned from an August 2025 congressional delegation to Israel saying the United States “must stand firmly with Israel in the fight against terrorism.” Since taking office in January 2025 he has voted for every tracked Israel measure — the January 2025 ICC-sanctions bill, the September 2026 college anti-boycott bill and the July 2026 State Department funding bill — and against the 2025 Greene and 2026 Massie cuts. His October 2025 statement asked that any deal “ensure Israel's security, bring hostages home, uphold human dignity, and open space for relief and reconstruction in Gaza”; in May 2025 he praised the police response to a student occupation of a University of Washington building, calling it “not a peaceful protest—it was criminal activity.” Asked in an Inlander reader Q&A published Oct 22, 2026 whether Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people, he answered: “No, Israel’s not committing a genocide. … That’s not what’s going on in Israel and Palestine.” Asked whether spending billions on Israel’s military is a good investment, he said “We fight terrorism all across the Middle East with a wide variety of partners, including Israel,” and “It’s extremely important that Hamas be rooted out from controlling the lives of the Palestinians.”
A 1 on a resolution he wrote. In June 2025 he was lead sponsor of H.Res.554, introduced with Pfluger, Nunn, Lawler and Salazar, which backs the U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites, “reaffirms unwavering support for the State of Israel’s right to self-defense” and calls for “timely replenishment” of Israel’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling. Since taking office in January 2025 he has voted for every tracked Israel measure, including the January 2025 ICC-sanctions bill and the September 2026 college anti-boycott bill, voted against the 2025 Greene and 2026 Massie cuts, and cosponsored the U.S.-Israel Defense Partnership Act. Back from an August 2025 delegation, he said the United States “must stand firmly with Israel in the fight against terrorism.” His references to Gaza’s needs come inside defenses of Israel: “relief and reconstruction” in the same sentence as ensuring Israel’s security (Oct 2025) and, asked in August 2025 why Israel would not let more food into Gaza, “the people need to be fed,” in an interview in which he said Israel “is taking great concern, and appropriately so, to safeguard the population of Gaza” and called the World Food Program “just totally dominated by Hamas right now.” In October 2026 he flatly denied that Israel is committing a genocide, setting it apart from Rwanda and the Holocaust. Counter-case: a 1/2, since the resolution is built around the Iran strikes and never left committee.
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elect26 places 2026 midterm candidates on a six-tier spectrum, from 1 (most pro-Israel) to 6 (most critical of Israel).