A bipartisan group of 45 House members wrote to President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday urging officials to act promptly to facilitate evacuations of American citizens from Israel, or at least provide them with additional information on efforts to allow for such evacuations.

They argued that communication from the administration to this point has been inadequate, leaving Americans without clear information or a path to leave Israel. They asked the administration to provide information to them by Wednesday that they can convey to their constituents.

“Americans in Israel are depending on our government for guidance and a pathway to safety,” the letter, obtained by Jewish Insider, reads. “All available options including evacuations by land routes and sea must be explored. At a minimum, American citizens in Israel deserve updates on the efforts underway to ensure their safe departure.”

The lawmakers criticized the State Department for failing to provide any additional information beyond directing them to enroll in the State Department’s travel registration and information program.

“We trust that you will honor our responsibility to protect the American people, no matter where they are in the world,” the lawmakers wrote. 

The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Wesley Bell (D-MO). The majority of the signatories were Democrats but two Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon (R-NE) and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) — also signed on.

The U.S. embassy’s offices in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv are set to be closed through at least Friday, the State Department announced.

A bipartisan group of nine House members wrote to the Trump administration on Friday emphasizing — as the administration continues to push for a nuclear deal — that U.S. negotiators must not allow Iran to maintain any nuclear enrichment capacity if a deal is reached. 

An early draft of the letter circulated by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Don Bacon (R-NE) prior to Israel’s strikes on Iran on Friday forcefully condemned the administration over reports that it had proposed allowing Iran to temporarily maintain low-level enrichment, criticizing that proposal as weaker and more dangerous than the original nuclear deal, and describing the talks as an Iranian delay tactic.

The finalized letter, which follows a similar communique from a bipartisan group of members earlier this month, again highlights that the administration will face vocal opposition on both sides of the aisle if it agrees to a deal that allows Iran to maintain a pathway toward a nuclear weapon.

“[Israel’s] decisive action comes after two months of unsuccessful diplomacy and represents a critical chance to stop the Iranian regime from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” the final version of the letter reads. “Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear arms, combined with its long record of fueling violence through terrorist proxies, has brought this moment upon itself.”

The letter argues that the U.S. must insist upon “zero enrichment, zero pathway to a nuclear weapon” and warns that any nuclear deal that does not meet those benchmarks “will face strong bipartisan opposition in Congress.”

The letter states that Iran “spent decades deceiving the international community and using diplomacy as a delay tactic while building the capacity to produce nuclear weapons” and describes the Israeli campaign against Iranian nuclear, military and critical infrastructure sites as “an opportunity to bring an end to Iran’s nuclear ambitions by ensuring their complete dismantlement in negotiations.”

The lawmakers said that they are “deeply concerned by Iran’s continued use of stalling tactics,” calling the talks an effort to buy time to avoid snapback of United Nations sanctions and rebuild Iran’s nuclear program. They noted that the Trump administration’s own two-month deadline for talks had already passed.

“It is time Iran makes a decision — make meaningful concessions or face crushing diplomatic pressure in addition to Israel’s military pressure,” the lawmakers wrote, urging the administration to work with allies to reimpose sanctions by next month — in advance of the October deadline.

The finalized letter was led by Gottheimer and Bacon and co-signed by Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Ritchie Torres (D-NY), Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Darren Soto (D-FL).

The previous version of the letter, drafted and circulated by Gottheimer and Bacon prior to the beginning of the Israeli campaign, more directly criticized the administration and its reported proposal to allow Iran to maintain some level of enrichment in an interim capacity.

“Such a proposal undermines U.S. national security and the security of our allies in the region,” the draft read. “The Iranian regime cannot be trusted … The Iranian regime must not be permitted to enrich uranium on its soil, at any level, under any circumstances.”

“We are deeply concerned that the United States is even entertaining proposals that would enable any form of enrichment — particularly one that involves U.S. assistance to build nuclear reactors in Iran and allows enrichment until a regional enrichment consortium facility is built, something Iran will demand is on their soil,” the draft continued.

The draft framed the delays and that proposal, as outlined, as “not just weaker than the JCPOA but far more dangerous,” referring to the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, imposing fewer restrictions and greater concessions than the original 2015 nuclear deal at a time when Iran is only weeks from nuclear breakout.

It argued that a deal should also address Iran’s support for terrorism, something that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, as recently as last month, has not been part of talks.

“If Iran refuses, we must return to a policy of maximum pressure and strategic deterrence,” the draft read. “The Iranian regime responds only to strength — not appeasement.”

The draft stated that the negotiations bore the hallmarks of Iranian obstructionism and stalling tactics.

“Iran continues to slow-walk negotiations, refusing to make meaningful concessions — all while continuing to grow its stockpile of enriched uranium,” the draft read. “If this process feels like a delay tactic, that is because it is.”

The draft also condemned Trump’s discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin about joining the nuclear talks as “not only naïve, [but] incredibly dangerous.”

“Putin is openly allied with Iran and is actively engaged himself in an unprovoked war in Ukraine,” the draft  read. “Asking for Putin’s help in securing a nuclear deal with Tehran risks legitimizing the actions of both regimes and could invite further instability.”

In response to the shooting that killed two Israeli Embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum last week, a bipartisan group of 46 House members wrote to President Donald Trump on Friday urging him to support expanded funding for key security programs in his full budget request to Congress, expected as soon as Friday afternoon.

While presidential budget requests are non-binding and are frequently modified by Congress, Trump’s requests are likely to be influential in the GOP-controlled Congress. And the appeals made by the lawmakers, in some cases, constitute calls for Trump to walk back funding cuts he proposed in the high-level budget toplines — known as a “skinny budget” — he submitted to Congress earlier this month.

Highlighting the “sharp rise in threats to the Jewish community,” the lawmakers — most of them Democrats — said that it is “imperative that the federal government take the necessary steps to increase funding for enhanced security measures” and “ensure that the Jewish community is equipped with the necessary tools to prevent loss of life in the case of an attack.”

The legislation calls on Trump to support $500 million in funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, the same funding level that bipartisan groups of House and Senate members have urged Appropriations Committee leaders to support, calling the program “one of the most effective and critical programs for protecting the Jewish community and all faith-based communities from attack.” Jewish groups have called for funding to be increased to $1 billion.

Trump, in his “skinny budget,” had called for a reduction in funding for non-emergency grants at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a category that includes NSGP, but did not put forward a specific request for the program itself. In the past, presidents have not always made any specific funding requests for the NSGP, even in their more detailed budget outlines.

The letter outlines a series of examples that “demonstrate the direct return on investment for communities under threat” from the NSGP,  highlighting incidents in which security upgrades paid for by the program likely saved lives by stopping shooting attacks.

The lawmakers also called for Trump to “explore opportunities,” in collaboration with lawmakers, to provide an additional dedicated fund to allow faith-based organizations to hire security officers.

“Although Jewish institutions can use the NSGP to hire additional security personnel, the majority of Jewish institutions have either not been recipients of these grants or cannot afford the additional costs incurred,” the letter reads. “In light of recent events, it is more clear than ever that Jewish institutions are in desperate need of additional personnel support.”

The letter calls on Trump to support increased funding for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Trump called for a $545 million cut to the FBI’s budget in his “skinny budget”, pledging that the FBI would focus on counterintelligence and counterterrorism and that it would eliminate “duplicative intelligence activities.”

The letter emphasizes the FBI’s role in domestic terrorism investigations, which have been on the rise, and intelligence gathering and the FBI’s responsibility to report to Congress on domestic terrorism threats.

It calls for increased Department of Justice grants for local law enforcement to ensure that hate crimes are properly reported to local and federal law enforcement agencies, and specifically for grant programs to counter hate crimes “to ensure that antisemitic hate crimes are addressed and prosecuted in a timely manner” and their extent is fully understood. 

The “skinny budget” called for cutting $1 billion in DOJ grant programs, including “programs that focus on so-called hate crimes in clear violation of the First Amendment.”

The letter was led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and co-signed by Reps. Max Miller (R-OH), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Brittany Pettersen (D-CO), Laura Gillen (D-NY), John Larson (D-CT), Dan Goldman (D-NY), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Nikema Williams (D-GA), David Scott (D-GA), Wesley Bell (D-MO), Shri Thanedar (D-MI), Dina Titus (D-NV), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Susie Lee (D-NV), Andre Carson (D-IN), Shontel Brown (D-OH), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Frederica Wilson (D-FL), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Janelle Bynum (D-OR), Madeleine Dean (D-PA), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jerry Nadler (D-NY), LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), Ted Lieu (D-CA), George Latimer (D-NY), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Julie Johnson (D-TX), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Darren Soto (D-FL), Chris Pappas (D-NH), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Bill Keating (D-MA), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Benny Thompson (D-MI), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad Sherman (D-CA), David Kustoff (R-TN) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).

Miller and Kustoff, who are both Jewish, are the only Republican signatories.