Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday further strained an already tense relationship with President Barack Obama.
And a number of top Democrats — including Vice President Joe Biden, whose job description includes the title President of the Senate — didn’t attend.
READ: Netanyahu: Deal will pave way to Iranian nuclear bomb
Netanyahu used the Tuesday speech to frame Iran as a major terrorist threat to the U.S and Israel, framing it in the same vein as ISIS and North Korea. And he argued that the deal currently in the works to prevent the nation from gaining nuclear weapons would in fact “guarantee” that it secures them — “lots of them.”
The expected substance of the speech, coupled with the fact that the White House was not alerted to the invite ahead of time, had drawn sharp criticism from the administration, and Democrats crying foul. National Security Adviser Susan Rice last week said Netanyahu’s decision to speak was “destructive to the fabric of the relationship” between Israel and the U.S.
Related: White House gets confrontational before Netanyahu visit
At least 50 Democratic House members and eight senators who caucus with the Democrats said in recent weeks they wouldn’t attend the speech, many in protest to a move that they say is an affront to the president.
Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.) had originally said he would skip the meeting, but changed his mind on Tuesday.
A full list of the Democrats who confirmed they missed the speech follows:
SENATE - 8 members
Sen. Al Franken (Minn.)
Sen. Martin Heinrich (N.M.)
Sen. Tim Kaine (Va.)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.)
HOUSE - 50 members
Rep. Karen Bass (Calif.)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.)
Rep. Corrine Brown (Fla.)
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.)
Rep. Lois Capps (Calif.)
Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.)
Rep. Joaquin Castro (Texas)
Rep. Katherine Clark (Mass.)
Rep. William Lacy Clay (Mo.)
Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.)
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.)
Rep. Steve Cohen (Tenn.)
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.)
Rep. John Conyers (Mich.)
Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.)
Rep. Danny Davis (Ill.)
Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.)
Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.)
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (Texas)
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.)
Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.)
Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.)
Rep. Marcia Fudge (Ohio)
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.)
Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.)
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.)
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)
Rep. Rick Larsen (Wash.)
Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.)
Rep. John Lewis (Ga.)
Rep. Dave Loebsack (Iowa)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (Calif.)
Rep. Betty McCollum (Minn.)
Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.)
Rep. Jim McGovern (Mass.)
Rep. Jerry McNerney (Calif.)
Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.)
Rep. Gwen Moore (Wis.)
Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas)
Rep. Donald Payne (N.J.)
Rep. Chellie Pingree (Maine)
Rep. David Price (N.C.)
Rep. Cedric Richmond (La.)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (Ill.)
Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.)
Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.)
Rep. Mike Thompson (Calif.)
Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.)
CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, Eric Bradner, Betsy Klein and Athena Jones contributed to this report.
