Biden-era advisors are reconvening to plan the party’s approach for the coming election cycle.
By Shireen Akram-Boshar , TruthoutPublishedMay 28, 2026
Then-President Joe Biden is joined by members of his cabinet, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as he meets with UN Secretary-General António Guterres during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 24, 2024 in New York City
.Spencer Platt / Getty Images
In an op-ed in the The New York Times on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) condemned members of his own party for their approach to the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” saying that “Democrats failed to meet the moment in 2024.” The op-ed comes as Biden administration advisors who helped engineer Israel’s genocide in Gaza are regrouping in an effort to shape the party’s approach to Palestine ahead of the next presidential election.
“Americans were rightly fed up with Democratic hypocrisy and complicity in the gross violation of the values we profess to hold dear,” Van Hollen wrote, admitting what the 2024 Democratic National Committee autopsy neglected to report. “That in turn, hurt our credibility with voters.”
“Both Republican and Democratic administrations are responsible for where we are today,” Van Hollen said, outlining a few of the crimes of Trump and Biden in allowing Israel’s impunity. Van Hollen then suggested that Democrats “can — and should — be both ‘pro Israeli’ and ‘pro-Palestinian.’” Despite saying that Democrats “cannot accept the status quo,” his op-ed goes on to encourage normalization efforts between Israel and states in the region, Saudi Arabia in particular — efforts that have aided Israel’s impunity and cemented a repressive status quo in the Middle East.
Just as Van Hollen calls for Democrats to change their approach to Israel, Biden-era advisors are reconvening to plan the party’s approach for the coming election cycle. In April, some Democrats restarted a foreign policy group, National Security Action, to formulate a foreign policy they say will help the party win in 2028, and to staff the next Democratic administration.
National Security Action was founded in 2018 by Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security advisor; and Jake Sullivan, advisor to Hillary Clinton, and later, national security advisor to Biden. The organization helped shape Democratic candidates’ foreign policy messaging in the 2020 election, and then helped staff President Biden’s national security team. They hope to do the same for the 2028 election cycle.
US Group Demands ICC Investigate Biden for Role in Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
The group laid out extensive evidence of the legal case against Biden officials in a 172-page report.By Sharon Zhang , Truthout February 24, 2025
Maher Bitar, a Palestinian American who worked in senior defense intelligence and defense policy for the Biden administration, and now director of the group, has said that the National Security Action group will function as a “hub” to work through the Democratic Party’s approach to foreign policy for it “to be ready for 2028 and beyond.” He also said that the group would bring together Democrats with a variety of ideas: “We are not excluding anyone,” he said. In practice, that has meant that any dissension and support for Palestine has been dwarfed by other voices as the party has moved further to the right over the past two decades.
Bitar provided intelligence assessments and coordinated defense policy on Gaza during the genocide.
As national security advisor to Biden, Jake Sullivan “helped enable” the “slaughter” of thousands of Palestinians, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Sullivan “coordinated the Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza” by facilitating arms shipments to Israel, providing diplomatic cover, and maintaining that Israel’s actions did not constitute a genocide.
Sullivan, Bitar, and others who were part of the Biden administration are the former president’s “loyal lieutenants,” journalist Julia Ioffe said, noting frustration among some in the party that they are still attempting to shape the Democratic Party’s foreign policy.
These “Biden Bros” include Antony Blinken, former Secretary of State under Biden who has been appointed to the board of directors of the Democratic Party-aligned Center for American Progress. During the Biden administration, Blinken certified to Congress that Israel was not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, contrary to reports of human rights groups and State Department experts themselves. Blinken also oversaw the U.S. delegation to the UN that vetoed repeated Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire. And he continued to send Israel weapons, while approving $26 billion in aid to Israel over the course of the genocide.
In an op-ed in the The New York Times on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) condemned members of his own party for their approach to the “Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” saying that “Democrats failed to meet the moment in 2024.” The op-ed comes as Biden administration advisors who helped engineer Israel’s genocide in Gaza are regrouping in an effort to shape the party’s approach to Palestine ahead of the next presidential election.
“Americans were rightly fed up with Democratic hypocrisy and complicity in the gross violation of the values we profess to hold dear,” Van Hollen wrote, admitting what the 2024 Democratic National Committee autopsy neglected to report. “That in turn, hurt our credibility with voters.”
“Both Republican and Democratic administrations are responsible for where we are today,” Van Hollen said, outlining a few of the crimes of Trump and Biden in allowing Israel’s impunity. Van Hollen then suggested that Democrats “can — and should — be both ‘pro Israeli’ and ‘pro-Palestinian.’” Despite saying that Democrats “cannot accept the status quo,” his op-ed goes on to encourage normalization efforts between Israel and states in the region, Saudi Arabia in particular — efforts that have aided Israel’s impunity and cemented a repressive status quo in the Middle East.
Just as Van Hollen calls for Democrats to change their approach to Israel, Biden-era advisors are reconvening to plan the party’s approach for the coming election cycle. In April, some Democrats restarted a foreign policy group, National Security Action, to formulate a foreign policy they say will help the party win in 2028, and to staff the next Democratic administration.
National Security Action was founded in 2018 by Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security advisor; and Jake Sullivan, advisor to Hillary Clinton, and later, national security advisor to Biden. The organization helped shape Democratic candidates’ foreign policy messaging in the 2020 election, and then helped staff President Biden’s national security team. They hope to do the same for the 2028 election cycle.
US Group Demands ICC Investigate Biden for Role in Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
The group laid out extensive evidence of the legal case against Biden officials in a 172-page report.By Sharon Zhang , Truthout February 24, 2025
Maher Bitar, a Palestinian American who worked in senior defense intelligence and defense policy for the Biden administration, and now director of the group, has said that the National Security Action group will function as a “hub” to work through the Democratic Party’s approach to foreign policy for it “to be ready for 2028 and beyond.” He also said that the group would bring together Democrats with a variety of ideas: “We are not excluding anyone,” he said. In practice, that has meant that any dissension and support for Palestine has been dwarfed by other voices as the party has moved further to the right over the past two decades.
Bitar provided intelligence assessments and coordinated defense policy on Gaza during the genocide.
As national security advisor to Biden, Jake Sullivan “helped enable” the “slaughter” of thousands of Palestinians, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Sullivan “coordinated the Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza” by facilitating arms shipments to Israel, providing diplomatic cover, and maintaining that Israel’s actions did not constitute a genocide.
Sullivan, Bitar, and others who were part of the Biden administration are the former president’s “loyal lieutenants,” journalist Julia Ioffe said, noting frustration among some in the party that they are still attempting to shape the Democratic Party’s foreign policy.
These “Biden Bros” include Antony Blinken, former Secretary of State under Biden who has been appointed to the board of directors of the Democratic Party-aligned Center for American Progress. During the Biden administration, Blinken certified to Congress that Israel was not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, contrary to reports of human rights groups and State Department experts themselves. Blinken also oversaw the U.S. delegation to the UN that vetoed repeated Security Council resolutions calling for a ceasefire. And he continued to send Israel weapons, while approving $26 billion in aid to Israel over the course of the genocide.
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