Cardin to preside over Netanyahu speech after Harris declined, as calls grow for boycotting it

Vice President Harris has declined to preside over the Senate chamber when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with her plans as calls for boycotting grow

BY LAURA KELLY

File: Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) listens to testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to discuss the president’s fiscal 2025 budget request for the department on May 21, 2024.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will preside over a joint session of Congress on Wednesday for a speech by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the senator’s office confirmed to The Hill.

Cardin will fill the role typically held by the vice president. Vice President Harris’s staff did not answer a request for comment, but she is reportedly expected to be traveling during Netanyahu’s speech. 

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the next in line as the Senate’s president pro tempore, declined to preside over Netanyahu’s speech, a spokesperson in her office confirmed to The Hill.

“I do not plan to attend Wednesday’s address. Securing a lasting, mutual ceasefire is of the utmost importance right now, and I will continue to push for one to be reached as soon as possible,” Murray said in a statement to The Hill.

“I hope Prime Minister Netanyahu will use the opportunity to address how he plans to secure a ceasefire—and lasting peace in the region. The United States’ commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad, and reaching a lasting ceasefire is critical so that we can see the remaining hostages are finally released, a surge of humanitarian aid, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, the rebuilding of Gaza, and ultimately, enduring peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike living side by side in two states.”

A number of Democrats are expected to boycott Netanyahu’s speech due to their criticisms that the Israeli leader is responsible for a humanitarian crisis for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and is an obstacle for peace and an eventual two-state solution.

Cardin had earlier said he had no opposition to Netanyahu addressing Congress.

“I have no difficulty with the prime minister of Israel addressing a joint session of Congress,” he said. 

THE HILL