Following online outrage from the right, the House canceled a planned vote on the IGO Anti-Boycott Act, legislation expanding current U.S. anti-boycott laws to include international organizations, despite broad bipartisan support for the legislation last year.

The fallout is just one recent example of how actors on the political fringes have mobilized to stymie pro-Israel legislation and bills to combat antisemitism that otherwise enjoy bipartisan support — often by misrepresenting their aims and impacts — and have ammassed sufficient influence to upend that bipartisan consensus and scuttle the legislative process.

The bill expands current U.S. anti-boycott laws first passed in the 1970s, primarily as a counter to the Arab League’s boycott of Israel. Additional authorities and guidelines were passed into law in 2018 under President Donald Trump. The existing law imposes penalties for companies or individuals which comply with or facilitate compulsory foreign boycotts of U.S. allies as a condition of doing business in foreign countries. 

The new law would apply to potential boycott policies enforced by international organizations like the United Nations or European Union.

Bipartisan support for identical legislation last year was so strong that it passed the House by a voice vote in February 2024, after being reported out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee by a 42-3 vote in late 2023. But this year, it’s meeting a very different reception.

The legislation as written does not ban or criminalize boycotts of Israel by U.S. citizens or companies undertaken outside of compulsory policies by international organizations, nor does it punish Americans who do not purchase Israeli goods. Current law specifically states that “the mere absence of a business relationship” in the boycotted country is not sufficient evidence of a boycott under the law. But some on the right took to X on Sunday to claim otherwise.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was among the first to voice opposition to the legislation, saying, “It is my job to defend American’s rights to buy or boycott whomever they choose without the government harshly fining them or imprisoning them.”

Her comments set off a wave of other objections.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) chimed in, calling the bill “ridiculous” and saying that it should never have been scheduled for a vote in the House.

Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk weighed in in opposition to the legislation, claiming incorrectly that it would “criminalize private boycotts of Israel” and would “only create more antisemitism, and play into growing narratives that Israel is running the US government.”

“This bill should not pass. Any Republican that votes for this bill will expose themselves. We will be watching very closely,” Kirk continued.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) said that, “There’s a real danger in passing bills like this,” claiming it would set a precedent to imprison people who “boycott countries who sign the Paris Climate Accords…or join the UN…or bribe the WTO/WHO.” He said that the bill would punish “‘thought crimes’ with prison.”

He described the bill as a “dangerous and unconstitutional Lawler virtue signal,” referring to the Republican congressman and lead sponsor of the bill. Gaetz also suggested that U.S. citizens would need to purchase some unspecified amount of Israeli products to avoid penalties as a “2025 version of lambs blood that keeps my family safe.”

Cumulatively, those posts received more than 15 million views on X. Some on the left also joined the chorus of opposition to the bill.

Lawler attempted to fend off attacks, explaining that the legislation only expands existing law to international governmental organizations and claiming that critics like Greene and Gaetz were defending the United Nations.

“The Anti-Boycott Act was passed into law in 2018, to prevent US businesses from participating in boycotts against American allies, pushed by foreign governments,” Lawler said. “This expands existing federal law to any boycott organized by IGOs like the United Nations. President Trump signed the first bill into law. This is simply holding the UN accountable. Was President Trump virtue signaling when he signed the original bill? And when did you become a defender of the UN?”

Lawler’s rebuttals were seen less than 200,000 times, in total.

Asked why the bill was pulled and whether it will be brought back up at a later date, a spokesperson for House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Jewish Insider that there were unspecified issues with the legislation, but said Republicans would be working through them.

Lawler spokesperson Ciro Riccardi said in a statement to JI, “It is disappointing that some members have chosen to misrepresent the purpose of this bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the House Foreign Affairs Committee and by voice vote on the House floor in the last Congress, reflecting its broad, bipartisan support. The IGO Anti-Boycott Act is a necessary measure to defend U.S. sovereignty and the integrity of our national interests against biased international organizations. We must remain committed to protecting Americans and standing firm with our allies, and we encourage leadership to bring this critical legislation to the floor for a vote.”

Riccardi emphasized that the bill “does not limit free speech, political activism, or any business decision or purchasing decision of a U.S. entity” but only seeks to protect them from “being coerced into supporting foreign boycotts that undermine our national interests and alliances.”

He also highlighted that the bill only amends legislation Trump signed in 2018 to include international governmental organizations.

A spokesperson for Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), the lead Democratic co-sponsor of the legislation, blasted House Republican leadership for pulling the bill.

“It’s beyond outrageous and offensive that House leadership bowed to extreme-right forces and pulled this commonsense, bipartisan bill that makes antisemitic and hate-driven boycotts illegal,” the spokesperson said. “Who was behind this effort? None other than a member of Congress who once claimed that Jews have space lasers and another who refused to condemn Hamas. Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie should be ashamed of themselves. Democrats and Republicans must work together to combat efforts to isolate, delegitimize, and demonize the Jewish community and our key democratic ally, Israel.”

It’s the second time in two weeks that legislation related to Israel or antisemitism has been blocked following outrage and misrepresentations from the political fringes.

Last week, the far-right and far-left came together to blockade the Antisemitism Awareness Act, claiming incorrectly that the legislation would curtail First Amendment rights and censor antisemitic speech.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee canceled a vote on that legislation after lawmakers voted to add poison-pill amendments, and the path forward for the bill is unclear.

The Antisemitism Awareness Act faces similar opposition in the House from the political fringes, as well as the conservative influencer sphere, despite passing by a broad bipartisan vote last year.