With nothing to lose, Republicans still put America last

Last week, the Senate voted on a resolution would force the State Department to produce a report on Israeli violence in the West Bank. The legislation would require the State Department to report on human rights in countries receiving American security funds within 30 days. If the department fails to produce a report in time, those funds halt automatically.

West Bank violence is of particular interest to some lawmakers for good reason. For one, that violence has reached an “all-time high” which “ threatens mass atrocities.” Second, the United States has the power to stop it. While West Bank attacks are typically committed by Israeli settlers, Israel’s government enables these crimes. It avoids confronting settlers as a matter of policy and even arms their attacks. That’s why Israeli human rights watchdog B’Tselem characterizes settler attacks as “state violence.” As its largest benefactor, the United States could pressure that state to shape up.

This is all the more pressing because Americans are increasingly the victims. Since 2022, at least nine U.S. citizens have been killed in the West Bank. None of the perpetrators have faced accountability. It’s a striking trend: a foreign government, funded and armed by the United States, killing Americans without repercussion. You’d think lawmakers would unanimously be desperate for answers. But you would be wrong.

The resolution failed on a 47-51 vote. Democrats, with the sole and unsurprising exception of Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, universally supported the resolution. All it would’ve taken was a few Republican votes to pass. The measure only got one: Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. With the resolution’s fate resting in Republican hands, the conference closed ranks almost to a man.

It was a gut check for the GOP. The party of “America First” had a golden opportunity to affirm its patriotism. The resolution was their chance to show the world American lives take precedence over laundering a foreign country’s image. And it was a layup. The resolution simply required a report that, coming from the Trump State Department, probably would’ve been a whitewash anyway. It wouldn’t be some revelation that shattered Israel’s popularity or irreparably damaged the American-Israeli alliance. This was a freebie — a morally obvious and politically costless stand.

Domestically, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could object to seeking answers regarding American deaths abroad. Explaining to your constituents why you voted yes wouldn’t be hard. If anything, it’d be hard to explain voting no, which calls your loyalty to this country into question.

Yet Republicans voted no anyway. This wasn’t out of character; the GOP regularly undermines its own “America First” branding. It was nonetheless notable, though, for its nakedness. With other violations of “America First,” there is at least some deniability — however implausible. Take the ongoing war on Iran. Opponents have cast the administration’s ready willingness to bear the entanglement’s immense domestic costs as putting America last. But the administration and its supporters argue that this war is necessary for American security, which Iran threatens existentially. That’s wrong; but it’s a story. A shred of contestability can go a long way.

Similar mental gymnastics were at play when President Trump waived his aid pause for a $20-billion bailout of Argentina. The optics were undeniably poor: sending huge sums to keep afloat a fiscally reckless foreign government as Americans languish. But the administration had an answer. This too was “America First” — a strategic loan (not handout) to counter Chinese influence, maintaining American primacy in its “backyard.” Or, at least, that’s what they claimed . Feel free to dispute it. But there was some narrative that reconciled the move with the GOP’s nationalist marketing.

With the resolution on Israel, there simply isn’t one. Republicans are just nakedly taking the side of a foreign power. No “America First” story is even the least bit plausible here. It’s exactly what it seems.

Last week’s vote largely flew under the radar. But it was highly consequential for the conservative movement. It proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that their rallying cry is hollow. “America First” doesn’t denote any genuine commitment to prioritizing this land or its people. If it was even the least bit literal, the resolution would’ve passed resoundingly. But it didn’t. The pledge is remarkably devoid of content. Even when America First-ers have nothing to lose, they won’t abide by it. You often hear people critique the empty sloganeering of the left. But there is no slogan in United States politics more empty than “America First.”

Elias Khoury is a University of Michigan law graduate and freelance writer based in Arlington, Virginia. He also holds a graduate degree in public policy from the London School of Economics.