Senator Kaine on Foreign Press Access to Gaza and Campaign Donations

Drop Site’s Capitol Hill reporter Julian Andreone spoke with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) about foreign press access to Gaza, Israel’s ongoing killing of Palestinian civilians, U.S. arms transfers, and the role that campaign donations and the pro-Israel lobby play in shaping policy.

Kaine told Drop Site he strongly believes journalists should be allowed into Gaza and said Congress is scrutinizing arms transfers more closely than in the past, while acknowledging there is still no majority for imposing limits.

Kaine’s record reflects shifts over the course of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In March 2024, he voted to arm Israel’s war machine with $14 billion in U.S. tax dollars, as the reported death toll surpassed 30,000, with Gaza’s Health Ministry estimating roughly 72% of those killed were women and children. He later supported cutting U.S. funding to UNRWA, the backbone of Gaza’s aid operation, a decision that contributed to the collapse of aid delivery and worsening famine conditions.

In November 2024 and April 2025, however, the Senator voted to block transfers of offensive weapons, including JDAMs, tank rounds, and mortars, and in September 2025 led a symbolic call for U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state, joined by six other Democratic senators.

When asked whether the fact that 94% of Congress has accepted donations from the pro-Israel lobby concerns him or affects U.S. foreign policy, he said, “I don’t think it does.”