Kathy Manning to lead Democratic Majority for Israel board of directors

JTA — Former US Rep. Kathy Manning will be the next board chair of the Democratic Majority for Israel, a pro-Israel advocacy group.

Brian Romick, who has served for years as a senior adviser to Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, will be DMFI’s new president. Hoyer, 85, who stepped down from House leadership in 2023, has long been one of the leading pro-Israel Democrats in Congress.

Manning served from 2021 to 2025 in the House, where she was likewise a staunch supporter of Israel. In late 2023, she decided not to seek a third term after her district was redrawn with a Republican majority.

Prior to serving in Congress, she was the first woman to chair the Jewish Federations of North America. Now, she will be a leader of one of the most vocal pro-Israel groups in Democratic party politics.

DMFI was founded in 2019 to shore up pro-Israel sentiment and policy in the party, where recent polling has shown declining support for Israel, especially among younger voters. Its affiliated DMFI PAC endorses and spends money on behalf of pro-Israel Democrats.

“I am thrilled to chair DMFI’s board at this very important time for the US-Israel relationship and for the Democratic Party,” Manning said in a statement.

In the House, Manning was vice-ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the subcommittee that deals with Israel. Last year, she co-sponsored the bipartisan Countering Antisemitism Act, which would have created a national coordinator to fight antisemitism.

Romick will succeed Mark Mellman, the organization’s founder, as president after he stepped down last month. The group also announced two new members of its board: Lisa Eisen, the co-president of Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, one of the country’s largest Jewish charities, and Stuart Kurlander, a former president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.