A very significant and welcome victory came for those who have worked so hard to hold Congressman Huffman accountable for his funding of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, on August 27th, 2025, Huffman cosponsored H.R. 3565, the “Block the Bombs” (see campaign website) bill introduced last June.
Huffman’s action comes after nearly two years after the intensification of Israel’s long siege of Gaza, the slaughter of at least 18,000 of Gaza’s children, generously funded and defended by both President Biden and Trump and Congressmembers like Huffman, including his disgraceful vote in April 2024 for an additional $17 Billion of US tax dollars to continue what human rights organizations like Amnesty International had already seen as a genocidal war of aggression.
Huffman’s turn to acting on his stated concerns, however limited, is commendable. It is very late, but not too late. It is no doubt the fruit of many protests, especially in the northern part of his district (see this, for example), calling on him to end his funding for the genocide, made a big difference. Even when he attended a fundraiser in Sausalito just a week before (photo above), he said he was “looking into it”. No doubt, also, Huffman must have felt some peer pressure when not only progressive friend Jaime Raskin but then his more conservative friend Mike Thompson also added their names to the bill.
Huffman has been quiet about his support for the measure so far. Huffman did post to his website a statement on August 1st regarding the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, with no mention of withholding any weaponry from the Israeli military. There is no press release that mentions his support for H.R. 3565, no social media post. It is not listed, at least not yet, among his sponsored legislation list on his official website. The only statement one might find from Huffman himself would come as a reply to a constituent inquiry. You can see a copy here. So far, this seems Huffman’s only public statement on H.R. 3565. We are glad he took a step further, but it seems Huffman wants to avoid the issue as much as possible. This is not the time to be quiet about not arming a genocide.
If this is to be beyond much more than a performative gesture, we need Huffman to make it clear to Israel, and the rest of Congress, that Israel must face real consequences for its genocidal aggression. It would help if Huffman demanded our two US Senators mus-representing California that they also vote to Block the Bombs (both Schiff and Padilla did not support Bernie Sanders’ resolution). We must also insist that Congressman Huffman call this a *genocide*, with all its legal implications and obligations for lawmakers who choose to continue to fund and defend Israel’s actions. So many human rights organizations and genocide scholars cannot be wrong, the latest being the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
Every time another member of Congress cosponsors this bill to block the bombs, it marks a significant defeat for those who wish to continue the genocide without obstacle. Therefore, it is already a win for humanity, however limited. We must still insist that Congressman Huffman goes further.
