Senior Democrats had sounded alarms for several members after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) stunned House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D) in the 2018 primary. Justice Democrats, the group behind Ocasio-Cortez‘s upset, eyed several other long-serving members who had not faced serious challenges in years or even decades.
Archiv: Eliot Engel
Engel bragged, ‘I sit down with AIPAC on every piece of legislation’ coming out of Foreign Affairs Committee
(20.06.2020)
Embattled congressman Eliot Engel, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has bragged that he sits down with the rightwing pro-Israel organization AIPAC on “every piece of legislation coming out of the Foreign Affairs Committee.”
In a 2018 speech to an AIPAC gathering in his NY district, Engel noted that he and Rep. Nita Lowey had both been in the House 30 years and were soon to assume chair positions that they could use to help Israel.
New York City won’t start counting absentee ballots for another week
(30.06.2020)
The city board, like its equivalents throughout the state, has been swamped with an unprecedented volume of absentee ballots and is currently working on sorting through them. Final totals for the number of mailed in-ballots should be available later this week. Ryan said that “more than 10 times” the number of such ballots expected under normal circumstances had been sent out.
Careers hang on mail-in ballots for 2 House Democrats
(30.06.2020)
With potentially as much as 50% of the vote being cast by mail this year because of the coronavirus, absentee ballots could decide the primary election. Under state law, counting may begin Wednesday, but it could take several days to complete in some counties.
Progressives zero in on another House chairman in primary
Progressives energized by last week’s congressional primaries have another high-ranking House Democrat in their sights: Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal of Massachusetts.
Neal, 71, is facing a challenge from Alex Morse, a 31-year-old mayor who was born just a few weeks after Neal began his first term in Congress.
What Jamaal Bowman’s victory means for America’s progressive movements
Bowman‘s unseating of Eliot Engel shows that neither the power of incumbency nor the backing of the Israel lobby is enough to win an election.
Engel’s Defeat in N.Y. Should Spur Netanyahu to Rethink Annexation – but It Won’t
Engel is liberal on most domestic issues but fiercely hawkish on foreign affairs, particularly on policies that advance Israel’s national security interests. He is considered a classic AIPAC-type congressman, one of a dwindling group of old guard Democrats who have helped maintain a semblance of bipartisan support for Israel in an era of political polarization and Democratic radicalization.
Engel Teaches Dems That Backing War and Apartheid Has a Downside
Engel was one of blue America’s most enthusiastic supporters of the war in Iraq. He was an opponent of Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. After the Obama administration allowed the passage of a United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, Engel introduced a House resolution condemning the U.N. In 2016, as Saudi Arabia was starving and bombing Yemeni civilians, Engel joined Republicans in defeating a measure that would have restricted Riyadh’s access to cluster munitions, weapons that leave behind mine-like explosives that can kill civilians for decades after a conflict has ended.
If Jamaal Bowman defeats Eliot Engel, it will be a shattering loss for the Democratic Party establishment. They threw everything at him: – $5 million in dark money smear ads – Endorsements from Hillary Clinton, Andrew Cuomo and Chuck Schumer And he still won.
Engel falls behind insurgent left-wing challenger in preliminary results, as Ocasio-Cortez wins primary
Longtime U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, who was first elected in 1988 and rose to become one of the most powerful Democrats in the House, was substantially trailing middle school principal Jamaal Bowman in Tuesday‘s primary — which could mark the second major upset of a veteran New York City Democratic congressman in just two years.
Unbelievable! Engel’s Trump donor-funded Super PAC spent another $300,000 today against us. There’s now $5 million trying to stop our movement. Please rush a donation to help us push back.
Hillary Clinton and GOP donors are backing an old militaristic Democrat, Eliot Engel, who has been in office for 16 terms! over a progressive Black candidate @JamaalBowmanNY .
A “Pro-Israel” Group’s Misleading Attack Ads on Jamaal Bowman Are Bad for the Jewish Community in Our District
As a resident of the Bronx for more than thirty years, a proud member of the Jewish community and a strong supporter of Israel, I feel compelled to express outrage at some of the tactics that a self-identified “pro-Israel” group has used in recent days to attack NY-16 congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman.
Representative Eliot Engel, the incumbent in my district for over three decades, is endorsed by a group called “Democratic Majority for Israel” (DMFI)…
Eliot Engel Down by Double Digits in New Poll
House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel’s three-decade tenure in Congress may be coming to an end.
According to new polling from Data for Progress, middle school principal and progressive congressional candidate Jamaal Bowman has cracked open a 10-point lead in his primary bid to unseat Eliot Engel, the 16-term incumbent in New York’s 16th district.
“It’s Just a Raw Power Struggle”: Progressives and Moderates Square Off in War Over Primarying Incumbents
(10.06.2020)
Progressives see hypocrisy rooted—not in principle or policy—but in maintaining power. “It’s almost like all the rules are thrown out the window if you’re not coming from the left,” progressive strategist Rebecca Katz told me.
White House memo on Soleimani strike makes no mention of imminent threat
“This official report directly contradicts the president’s false assertion that he attacked Iran to prevent an imminent attack against United States personnel and embassies,” said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.). “The administration’s explanation in this report makes no mention of any imminent threat and shows that the justification the president offered to the American people was false, plain and simple.”
A spokesman for the National Security Council said the White House had no further comment beyond the memo.
Intel: Pelosi seeks to reassure Israel as Democrats debate military aid
(23.01.2020)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is leading a congressional delegation to Israel this week amid an intraparty debate over conditioning military aid to the close US ally and Democratic efforts to limit President Donald Trump’s ability to attack Iran.
“And no matter what our party — or wherever we are within our party — the fact that we have the shared values with Israel and that is one reason for our joy in the creation of Israel as a historical miracle, the greatest accomplishment of the [20th] century,” Pelosi said at a working lunch with Knesset members.
Democratic leaders hold fire on Trump’s Mideast peace plan
A group of pro-Israel Democrats who accompanied Pelosi on the trip — including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel of New York and Middle East panel Chairman Ted Deutch of Florida — also expressed hope that Trump’s proposal could lead to direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians to ultimately result in a two-state solution.
White House Subpoenaed in House Impeachment Inquiry
Washington, D.C. (Oct. 4, 2019)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep. Eliot L. Engel, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, sent a letter conveying a subpoena to White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney for key documents as part of the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump.
US-Demokraten wollen Weißes Haus zu Herausgabe von Dokumenten zwingen
„Wir bedauern zutiefst, dass Präsident (Donald) Trump uns – und die Nation – in diese Lage gebracht hat“, hieß es in der am Freitagabend (Ortszeit) verbreiteten Erklärung der Ausschussvorsitzenden Elijah Cummings, Adam Schiff und Eliot Engel. „Aber seine Handlungen haben uns keine andere Wahl gelassen, als diese Vorladung zu erlassen.“ Trump habe den „Weg der Missachtung, Behinderung und Vertuschung“ beschritten, warfen sie ihm vor.
AIPAC-affiliated Democrats Warn Netanyahu Against West Bank Annexation
Four U.S. lawmakers who have long proved staunch supporters of Israel express concern over the prime minister‘s campaign promise ■ Other lawmakers single out Netanyahu‘s ‚full-throated embrace of the far right’s extreme agenda‘