Dylan Williams

The good news from Brazil and Serbia is a reminder that democracy can and must prevail against the forces of autocracy.

Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence are out of control. The last three years saw 50,000 West Bank Palestinians forced from their homes by Israeli military operations, demolitions and settler terror attacks. Now, dozens of lawmakers led by @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social are pushing back.

The next UN Secretary-General must defend international institutions & norms from the forces of autocracy & corruption. @cipolicy.bsky.social explains why Lana Nusseibeh, the public face of the UAE's denials of arming a genocide in Sudan, is the wrong choice: internationalpolicy.org/publications...

New statement from CIP President and CEO @nancyokail.bsky.social on the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.

We honor the memory of the nearly 3,000 people murdered 25 years ago today. We must also reckon with why the US response made the world less safe, pursuing failed policies that continue to inflict harm at home and abroad. From @nancyokail.bsky.social: internationalpolicy.org/publications...

The UK announced new measures in response to Israeli settlements. "Banning the import of settlement goods and sanctioning those who facilitate settlement expansion are welcome, if long overdue, steps" says EVP @mattduss. The US should adopt similar measures, not resist them.

FINAL VOTE: The bill just passed the House by a vote of 237 to 169. 33 Democrats joined all but two Republicans in voting for it:

The House of Representatives will vote this week on a bill denying federal funding to universities that boycott Israel, Israeli companies or Israeli institutions—including those in settlements. It’s another effort to single out Israel for special treatment and erode Americans’ rights on its behalf.

The progressive foreign policy blueprint is here.

NEW STATEMENT 🚨 CIP Executive Vice President @mattduss.bsky.social issued the following response to reports that the United States and Iran have reached a ceasefire agreement to be signed by the end of the week: #Iran 🇮🇷 #UnitedStates 🇺🇸

It took two decades but we’ve gone from a majority of Congress voting for a war of choice to voting against one. It reflects Americans’ broad opposition to the human, economic and moral costs of the reflexive militarism that has long defined the US foreign policy elite. apnews.com/article/iran...

This report on horrific assaults leaves no doubt whatsoever that a wide swath of Israeli security units have been credibly accused of committing gross violations of human rights. The Leahy Law requires that U.S. security assistance to implicated units cease at once. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/o...

NEW: 30 lawmakers led by @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social press Trump to share intel on Israeli nuclear program “The concerns about nuclear escalation are shared by some inside the Trump administration, who say Israel’s red lines may not be adequately understood” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Rats infest Gaza’s tent camps, gnawing on children’s fingers and toes and spreading disease. The head of Gaza's largest hospital said he expects the problem to worsen as summer approaches and amid an Israeli ban on pest control materials such as rat poison. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

NEW: Sen. @kaine.senate.gov will force a vote today on a measure to block US forces from being engaged in hostilities against Cuba. This is another critical constitutional test and effort to restrain a president committing illegal acts of war across the globe. www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releas...

Starting at 11AM eastern:

Israeli settler terrorists just attacked a school, murdering a child. Arming and providing settlers military backing is the official policy of Israel, whose ministers openly incite violence against Palestinians. It’s ethnic cleansing and US taxpayers are arming it. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

Then they can pay for their weapons and fight their wars themselves. Keep American taxpayers and servicemembers out of it.

I got to know the views of Maine’s second district pretty well when I worked for a Maine Senator. You won’t find finer folks anywhere—or any who are less supportive of costly wars of choice. They want good jobs, affordable heat and healthcare. Golden’s vote was not one reflecting their interests.

With a final tally of 213-214, the war powers resolution to disengage US forces from the war on Iran failed by a single vote. Representative Jared Golden of Maine was the sole Democratic lawmaker to vote against the measure. Had he voted for it, it would have passed, handing Trump an historic loss.

Sending Israel more weapons and military aid remains prohibited under US law as it continues to restrict Gaza aid: “Living conditions of Palestinians remain dire, while Israel continues to deliberately obstruct aid, which is translating into entirely preventable deaths” www.msf.org/not-ceasefir...

“The United States and all other countries need to cut off weapons to Israel immediately. Full arms embargo.” – CIP VP of Government Affairs @dylanwilliams.bsky.social in @commondreams.org ⬇️ www.commondreams.org/news/israel-...

Called my Senators and Representative, urging them to cut their recess short, show up in DC, and prepare articles of impeachment against Trump for violating "18 US Code § 1091 prohibiting the crime of genocide," as so clearly explained by my @cipolicy.bsky.social colleague @dylanwilliams.bsky.social

As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran escalates, Trump may deploy thousands of additional troops to the region for a ground assault inside Iran and has quadrupled his request for war funding from Congress. @cipolicy.bsky.social is holding an emergency online public briefing TODAY at 3pm. Register below.

Trump’s $200 billion request amounts to over $1,225 from every working American to pay for an unnecessary and unauthorized war that he claims we already won. Lawmakers who vote to fund the war won’t just be voting to continue it, they’ll be voting to support another forever war. Not one more dime.

We are seeing the Iran war become a quagmire in real time. Asking U.S. taxpayers to spend $50 billion on a war Trump claims we have already won was outrageous enough. Quadrupling that within a week shows a total lack of understanding or control over what he has gotten us into. Not one more dime.

“The new war in Iran is very unpopular… worst-ever-support-for-war-when-it-started unpopular. With just 38% of Americans in favor, support for bombing Iran is lower than retrospective support for the war in Iraq was in 2014.” — pollster @gelliottmorris.com www.gelliottmorris.com/p/polls-us-i...

The Kaine-Paul resolution to remove U.S. forces from hostilities against Iran will fail to advance on a vote of 47-53.

As the Senate vote begins on the Kaine-Paul resolution to remove US forces from hostilities against Iran, Democrats are at their desks, while the Republican side is empty. The message is unmistakable. For Democrats this is a solemn moment. For Republicans it’s just another vote.

👋 Former State Department War Powers lawyer here. This statement by Rubio is false. As @tessbridgeman.bsky.social and I wrote in January: www.justsecurity.org/128517/war-p...

“Israeli strikes hit hospital in Tehran, witnesses tell Reuters” Yesterday it was a school, today it is a hospital. Yesterday children were buried under the rubble of their classrooms, today babies had to be moved from intensive care in their incubators. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

How awful and unnecessary.

“Iran reels as more than 100 children reportedly killed in school bombing” The United States armed and funded Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. Now such atrocities are being inflicted on Iran’s people, but this time the United States is a full participant. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Iranian authorities and Red Crescent Society officials report that more than 100 people, most of them girls, were killed at a primary school during joint U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran. Let’s be clear: Slaughtering children in a school is an atrocity and a war crime. www.ft.com/content/055d...

Running list of lawmakers opposed to the US and Israel's illegal war with Iran. If your elected official isn't on this list, make note, and primary the F out of them. docs.google.com/document/d/e...

Here is a running list of statements by U.S. lawmakers opposed to Trump launching a major military assault on Iran: docs.google.com/document/d/e...

AIPAC is eagerly cheerleading the illegal US and Israeli war on Iran. It has long sabotaged diplomacy with Iran and pushed to use the US Armed Forces against it. It is a pro-war lobby that helps to put American forces and millions of civilians across the Mideast in harm’s way.

Trump explicitly calls his major military assault on Iran a war aimed at regime change. Congress has not declared war on Iran or authorized the use of military force against it. The launch of these illegal attacks is a crime of aggression—a grave violation of international law.

The Senate and House of Representatives will vote next week on measures to block the unauthorized use of U.S. Armed Forces against Iran. Here is a growing list of statements by lawmakers opposed to Trump recklessly starting another costly and bloody war: docs.google.com/document/d/e...

I shared my thoughts on top Democrats joining the effort to block a war on Iran with @theguardian.com: “Once it became clear how much this mattered to the Democratic voting base, those leaders started to speak out more strongly on the substance of the issue” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

NEW: House Democratic Leadership announces that they will force a vote on the bipartisan resolution to block Trump from launching an unauthorized war on Iran. This comes just after Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer made public his support for a corresponding Senate measure.

“Trump’s family and associates are poised to make billions at the expense of US taxpayers and Palestinian rights and lives,” @dylanwilliams.bsky.social on Trump’s Gaza plan being a “vehicle for massive exploitation and corruption.” ➡️ @commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/news/compani...

Imagine looking like partially-digested Arby’s and nearly getting your ass beat by a Congresswoman half your size.

Trump’s declaration of a naval blockade against Venezuela constitutes an act of war, breaking prior assurances that hostilities would require congressional approval and advancing a step toward conflict. ➡️ @dylanwilliams.bsky.social in @commondreams.org www.commondreams.org/news/unquest...

Americans do not want to go to war in Venezuela. Congress votes this week on measures to block one. Help prevent a war with 3 calls to 202-224-3121: Call 1: Ask for your House Rep & urge them to vote for both H.Con.Res.61 & 64 Calls 2 & 3: Ask for your Senators & urge them to vote for S.J.Res.98

NEW: Americans overwhelmingly oppose attacking Venezuela • 70% oppose military action • 75% say Trump must get prior congressional approval, including most Republicans • 63% say attacks would not change—or even increase—the flow of drugs into the United States www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-ve...

“It would be deeply irresponsible and harmful to commit to 20 years of underwriting Israel’s war machine in light of its record of flagrantly misusing the aid and arms we already provided.” —CIP’s @mattduss.bsky.social on Israel seeking a 20 year US aid MOU: internationalpolicy.org/publications...