Plaintiff Tarik Kanaana says the lawsuit “has given people something to rally behind and a renewed sense of hope.”
Marjorie Cohn
January 3, 2025
Marjorie Cohn
January 3, 2025
Still from a U.N. film strip, circa 1949, on the 1948 Genocide Convention. (U.N. Photo)
On December 19, more than 500 federal taxpayers from 10 northern California counties filed an unprecedented class-action lawsuit against their congressional representatives. Seth Donnelly et. al. v. Mike Thompson, and Jared Huffman charges that the defendants — two Democratic congressmembers — illegally abused their tax and spend authority on April 20, 2024, when they voted for the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which authorized $26.38 billion in military aid to Israel.The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, alleges that Thompson and Huffman violated the U.S. Constitution, the Genocide Convention and several U.S. laws.
“I am a Palestinian Lebanese American, and I am suing my California congressman, Mike Thompson, for misusing my federal tax dollars and supporting the genocide in Gaza,” Maria Barakat, a class representative, told Truthout. “As a Palestinian and a person of conscience, Thompson has forced me to be complicit in the murder and genocide of my own people.”
Taxpayers who brought the suit come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They include young people, the elderly, educators, health care workers, Jewish and Palestinian Americans, and others. Members of the class are defined as: “All persons who were federal taxpayers during the year 2024 who reside within the federal Second or Fourth Congressional District of California and have suffered moral and emotional/psychic injury from being made complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
Congress Can Tax Only for the Common Defense and General Welfare
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution establishes Congress’s power to lay and collect taxes only for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. When taxes are collected and allocated for unlawful purposes, the general welfare is not served.
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution establishes Congress’s power to lay and collect taxes only for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. When taxes are collected and allocated for unlawful purposes, the general welfare is not served.
The complaint — the charging document in the lawsuit — notes that the $26.38 billion for which the defendants voted includes $3.5 billion for the procurement of advanced weapons systems, defense articles (items or technical data designed for a missile, satellite or other military use) and defense services; $1 billion for the production and development of artillery and critical munitions; and $4.4 billion to replenish defense articles and defense services provided to Israel.
As this article goes to press, more than 45,500 Palestinian people have been killed by Israel’s genocidal campaign using weapons provided by the U.S. government.
As this article goes to press, more than 45,500 Palestinian people have been killed by Israel’s genocidal campaign using weapons provided by the U.S. government.
Rep. Mike Thompson (left) talks with Rep. Jared Huffman (right) before a community meeting for north bay fire victims at Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Feburary 20, 2019, in Santa Rosa, California. Liz Hafalia / San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
In Donnelly v. Thompson, the taxpayers cite violations of the Genocide Convention, which the U.S. has ratified, and the Genocide Convention Implementation Act, which establishes the crime of “complicity in genocide.” Customary international law, which is part of federal common and statutory law, also prohibits complicity in genocide.
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