Live from the DNC

Every week of Donald Trump’s second term seems to be crazier than the next, but nothing could have prepared us for the President of the United States explicitly threatening to annihilate “a whole civilization” of 93 million people. Trump’s threats were followed by capitulation and agreement to a tenuous ceasefire that reads like an Iranian wishlist. His madman rhetoric related to Iran finally surpassed the seemingly elusive threshold of batshit crazy, enough to generate calls for his removal via the 25th Amendment, including from 85 Democrats and even some Republicans.

This week, I’ve been in New Orleans attending the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) spring meeting. Here at the DNC, they have responded to Trump’s madness with pragmatism, focusing instead on winning the midterm elections. While I traveled to New Orleans to attend the somewhat tedious DNC Resolutions Committee meeting yesterday, what I experienced was a warm, welcoming, and invigorating environment. Democrats are focused on taking back our country with responsible and level-headed leadership, and – as I experienced – their vision aligns with and includes Jewish and pro-Israel Americans.

In yesterday’s meeting of the DNC Resolutions Committee, where any of its more than 40 members can introduce a resolution on any subject, the Committee voted on a range of important policy matters. The resolutions, in the order they were considered, included fighting for fair wages and affordability; condemning higher costs, corruption, and chaos under Trump; condemning anti-democratic redistricting and voter suppression efforts led by Trump and the GOP; opposing the SAVE Act and defending vote-by-mail, automatic voter registration, and the freedom to vote; demanding reforms and accountability in ICE detention facilities; condemning the influence of dark money in the 2026 Democratic primary elections; affirming a commitment to full oversight and accountability for the Trump administration’s criminal and harmful behavior; and calling for a 21st Century Economic Bill of Rights.

All of those resolutions were adopted without issue, and then came a handful of resolutions on more challenging topics, including two related to Israel that were inconsistent with the Party’s strong support of Israel codified in the 2024 Democratic Party Policy Platform, as well as a resolution ostensibly about dark money in politics that mentioned only AIPAC. The Chair reasonably suggested referring the first two resolutions to the DNC’s Working Group on the Middle East, an entity established by Chair Martin in August to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Committee voted in both cases to refer them to the Working Group, effectively defeating them ahead of today’s full DNC meeting. The AIPAC resolution was also rejected by the Committee.

JDCA issued a statement after the votes that welcomed the Committee’s rejection of the three resolutions. While we agree with the rejection of dark money in politics – a topic covered in another, more expansive resolution adopted by the Committee – we said that “singling out any individual organization is both unproductive and unnecessarily divisive.” We were glad to see that a majority of Committee members agreed and defeated the AIPAC resolution.

While there’s a lot of focus on these particular resolutions  – with coverage in Politico and many mainstream media outlets – the main takeaway for me from New Orleans has been the disciplined and measured approach the DNC took to these resolutions, as well as the range of other matters of critical importance to the American people ahead of the midterm elections. I was very happy to see the DNC’s focus on affordability and wages, election integrity and voter suppression, and a laser focus on winning the midterm elections, which are less than seven months away.

Amid the noise (and yes, there are increasingly loud voices) in the Democratic Party that appear to diverge from the interests of pro-Israel and Jewish Americans, that is not at all what I experienced in New Orleans. In fact, as I write this, I’m attending a bagel brunch at the DNC for the Jewish attendees marking the end of Passover. This “Nosh and Conversation” event included Chair Martin, Jewish State Party Chairs, Jewish Caucus leads from state parties, and JDCA. We’re here at the DNC, our voices and views matter and are welcomed, and we’re making a difference.

Now off to nosh on chametz.

Shabbat Shalom,

Halie Soifer
CEO, Jewish Democratic Council of America