AIPAC plays an enormous role in subverting US elections, but the American people are beginning to organize and strike a blow against this foreign influence over our elections and our country.
Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, told Tucker Carlson in June 2024 that every Republican in Congress has an AIPAC babysitter. (AIPAC is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.) “Everybody but me has an AIPAC person,” he said. “It’s like your AIPAC babysitter, who’s always talking to you for AIPAC.” He said these “babysitters” tend to be from the representative’s district, but they’re definitely part of AIPAC.
Massie had broken with the Trump administration and others in the Republican Party over the last couple of years on US support for Israel and the Iran war. Massie lost his election in the 2026 primaries after pro-Israel groups reportedly spent more than $9 million to defeat him.
And you can bet there are plenty of Democratic members of Congress who also have AIPAC babysitters. In fact, 349 members, both Democrats and Republicans (65% of the entire Congress) received funding during the 2023-24 election cycle from AIPAC, amounting to a total of $45.2 million, according to a report from Sludge in 2025. “No single organization has ever contributed as much money to congressional candidates’ campaigns as AIPAC did during the 2023-24 election cycle,” Sludge’s report states. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries received at least $933,000, while Speaker Mike Johnson (R) received at least $654,000.
AIPAC plays an enormous role in subverting US elections, but the American people are beginning to organize and strike a blow against this foreign influence over our elections and our country.
AIPAC has been called one of the most powerful lobbies in America. AIPAC and its affiliates lobby Congress on behalf of Israel and spend heavily on both parties to influence the outcome of presidential and congressional elections. They donate directly to candidates’ campaigns, and also engage in independent spending on behalf of or in opposition to candidates. Although AIPAC clearly represents a foreign government, it has never been required to register as a foreign agent.
AIPAC, which says it has 6.5 million members, also enjoys the support of a number of pro-Israel billionaires who give huge donations, such as Robert Kraft, Jan Koum, Haim Saban, Marc Rowan and Paul Singer. AIPAC is also supported by many evangelical Christians in the US, who make up a quarter of the population and are overwhelmingly pro-Israel.
In 2024, AIPAC and its affiliates, such as the United Democracy Project, AIPAC PAC, and Democratic Majority for Israel PAC, indicated they planned to spend $100 million across that election cycle to influence who got elected and who didn’t. Among the progressive congressional candidates they helped defeat in 2024 were Jamaal Bowman in New York and Cori Bush in Missouri. AIPAC and its affiliates reportedly spent $23 million to defeat Bowman, and between $8 million and $9 million to unseat Bush.
In the 2026 primaries, AIPAC and affiliates helped defeat three progressive congressional candidates in Illinois – Kat Abughazaleh, Junaid Ahmed, and Jesse Jackson Jr. – and also helped stop Cori Bush’s comeback attempt in Missouri. AIPAC and related groups reportedly planned to spend over $100 million on this year’s midterms.
While Americans struggle to pay for basic necessities, the United States continues to provide billions in military assistance to Israel every year. The US has provided Israel with over $300 billion in total foreign assistance (military and economic, but mostly military) since its founding in 1948, when adjusted for inflation. This is more than the US has provided to any other country.
The annual military assistance has increased substantially since the Israeli genocide in Palestine began. The only condition imposed by the US is that it has to be used buy American weapons. There are no limits on how the weapons can be used – Israel can commit as many human rights violations and war crimes as it wants without fear of US sanctions.
But Israel’s influence in the US seems to be declining as the genocide in Palestine has caused a shift in American attitudes toward Israel. Recent polling shows a significant decline in sympathy for the state of Israel among Americans and a rise in sympathy for Palestinians, especially among young people. The importance of this shift cannot be overstated.
As Mandy Taheri wrote in Newsweek last month, “Democratic primary voters this cycle have defied one of Washington’s most influential political organizations in several primary races, delivering a series of victories to candidates running against rivals backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its affiliated organizations.
“From Michigan and Minnesota Senate primaries to congressional races in New York, Illinois and California, several Democratic nominees prevailed in their races despite millions of AIPAC-affiliated spending aimed at boosting their opponents. The victories come amid shifting attitudes within the Democratic Party toward Israel and the war in Gaza, with several progressive candidates speaking out against the Israeli government—and scoring primary wins while doing so—this election cycle.”
If we, the people, can at last break the hold of the pro-Israel billionaires on our country’s elections and on its foreign policy, we can free billions of dollars to fund the basic needs of Americans, and more importantly, put an end to the moral stain on our souls that comes from our complicity in genocide and oppression. It is time.
Bob Lee is a professional journalist, writer and editor, and is co-editor of the People’s Tribune, serving as Managing Editor. He first started writing for and distributing the People’s Tribune in 1980, and joined the editorial board in 1987.
