Campaign seeks to bar Biden officials from power over complicity in US-backed Israeli genocide

Progressive organisations in the US are campaigning to prevent former officials within the administration of President Joe Biden, accused of complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, from returning to government.  

The initiatives target senior figures including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, former National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, his deputy Jon Finer and former Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, according to a report published by Haaretz.

One campaign, #DroptheGenocide20, launched last month, calls for the exclusion of 20 former Biden appointees from future administrations. Separately, the American Committee for Middle East Rights plans to launch ONRECORD, a database assessing the records of former US officials responsible for Middle East policy, after the midterm elections.

“Being complicit in genocide should be enough to stop you from being a part of the foreign policy establishment again in the future, but that’s just not the way it works right now,” the committee’s director, Kristina Biyad, said.

The campaigns are seeking to influence Democratic presidential contenders ahead of the 2028 election, challenging the prospect that officials responsible for Biden’s Gaza policy could regain influential positions under a future Democratic president.

Kevin Martin, president of Peace Action, said the message to prospective candidates was clear: “We don’t want Tony Blinken and Jake Sullivan and friends – the ‘Biden bros’ – anywhere near your foreign policy if and when you become president.”

READ: ICC asked to investigate Biden and other former US officials for complicity in war crimes

“Don’t you dare let these guys back in,” he added.

Organisations endorsing #DroptheGenocide20 include the Democratic Socialists of America, Track AIPAC, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Peace Action and the veterans’ group About Face.

The campaign describes those listed as among the officials “most responsible for promoting, lying about, and covering up the Gaza genocide”. 

Efforts to hold US officials accountable also challenge attempts by former senior figures in the Biden administration aiming to rehabilitate their reputations through expressions of regret.

This week, Cory Booker, who according to AIPAC tracker received over $800,000 dollars from Israeli lobby groups, was slammed for promoting one of the “chief architects” in the Biden administration of the US backed Israeli genocide. 

“Cory Booker — who is being floated as a 2028 contender, and who just the other day did not deny the possibility of wanting to become leader of the Senate Democrats — promotes the book of Brett McGurk, a chief architect of the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestine”, said Prem Thakker of Zeteo. 

Cory Booker — who is being floated as a 2028 contender, and who just the other day did not deny the possibility of wanting to become leader of the Senate Democrats — promotes the book of Brett McGurk, a chief architect of the US-backed Israeli genocide of Palestine: https://t.co/P6H81AC5Nh

— Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) October 7, 2026

The initiatives focus on future appointments within a Democrat government and is less concerned about criminal proceedings. Alongside its report cards, the American Committee for Middle East Rights intends to identify alternative foreign policy experts who could serve in the future.

READ: US diplomat resigns from State Department over Gaza genocide