Hundreds of Biden administration employees and federal staffers from more than two dozen agencies will walk off their jobs next week to protest the White House’s handling of the Middle East crisis.
An anonymous internal cabal calling itself “Feds United for Peace” has organized the strike for Tuesday, marking 100 days of Israel’s siege of Gaza. AI monitor.
The move is reportedly fueled by growing resentment within the administration over Biden’s continued support for Israel’s military bombardment of Palestine, which has killed more than 23,000 people, mostly civilians.
There are concerns that Biden’s support for the conflict is costing him significant political currency, especially among young voters, just as his 2024 re-election campaign heats up.
The White House is preparing for a strike by hundreds of employees in protest over the handling of the Middle East crisis and the financing of Israel’s war effort.
President Biden (photo January 12) is confronted with the internal rebellion of a group calling itself ‘Feds United for Peace’. There are fears that his support for Israel will cost the White House significant political capital, especially among young voters, as he heads into the 2024 elections.
The walkout is a dramatic departure from the way top federal government officials have shown disapproval of White House policies in the past, which have typically been reserved for media leaks or public resignations over the policy.
But organizers, who have remained anonymous, say they want to change direction from within, and expect “easily hundreds” of staffers to join their efforts on Tuesday.
They say they have commitments from people within 22 federal agencies for the strike, including from the Executive Office of the President, the National Security Agency, Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the FDA.
The Biden administration has so far sent more than $14 billion to Israel, in addition to significant military aid, with the United Nations estimating the number of displaced Palestinians since then at 1.9 million people – 85 percent of the population.
One of the strike’s organizers told AI Monitor that they decided to launch the protest because it “rose from a collective desire to do what we could to influence the Biden administration’s policies in this area.”
“What you’re seeing in this effort is something very unusual, and that is dissent manifesting itself through a physical act,” she added.
The unrest has also reportedly resulted in a number of letters being drafted through the State Department’s private “dissent channel,” a way for staffers to anonymously express their concerns that was set up during the Vietnam War.
To curb internal rebellions, White House officials have reportedly held meetings with their aides to listen to their concerns, including “listening sessions” between Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Arab-American, Muslim and Jewish staffers.
There is growing internal resistance to Biden’s handling of the Gaza crisis, as he has sent more than $14 billion to Israel in addition to significant military aid.
The United Nations estimates the number of displaced Palestinians at 1.9 million people – 85 percent of the population
The organizer said they had “unequivocally” tried to make their points internally, but the mass walkout is one of their last resorts.
“It’s one thing to write letters from within, but when policy discussions and dissent don’t result in a change in policy – and in some views even a doubling of that policy – then people feel like they have no other choice because there isn’t they are listened to. they added.
Although top federal government officials have resigned in protest over disagreements in recent years, the organizer said they felt a “moral obligation and a patriotic duty” to change Biden’s approach from within.
Specific issues cited for the strike included U.S. obstruction of ceasefire campaigns within the United Nations and bypassing Congress to send weapons to Israel.
The demonstration comes as reports cite growing anger from Washington elites over the attitude of young staffers in showing their disapproval to their bosses.
Since the conflict erupted in October, a series of anonymous letters written by staffers at the White House, the State Department and Biden’s reelection campaign have been seized, a move that would have been unthinkable decades ago.
Amid the internal uprising, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken (pictured) has reportedly held “listening sessions” with Arab-American, Muslim and Jewish staffers.
James Carville (pictured in 2018), a longtime Democratic operative and former campaign strategist for President Bill Clinton, said the staffers’ demonstrations mark a dramatic departure from the way aides showed their disapproval in years past, and that a strike ” wouldn’t even cross your mind’. mind’
James Carville, a longtime Democratic operative and former campaign strategist for President Bill Clinton, said this Politics that the letters mark a turning point in the way young staff members express their opinions.
“There’s a whole attitude now of, ‘You’re not the boss of me.’ “I might work for you, but I have my own opinions,” he said.
“If you said you didn’t like some of President Clinton’s policies, the idea of you making that public would be insane. Just wouldn’t do that. It wouldn’t even occur to you.’
“The bargain that a staffer makes has always been this: You get to influence the decisions of the most powerful government in the history of the world,” added Paul Begala, who worked with Carville in the Clinton White House.
“In exchange for that influence, you agree to support the final decision, even if it conflicts with your advice. When faced with a decision that crosses one’s ethical, moral, social and political boundaries, the choice is clear: shut up and support it, or resign.”