Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., left, listens as Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questions Attorney General Merrick Garland during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing examining the Department of Justice, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, March 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican U.S. senators, including Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), have criticized the Biden administration for employing a civil servant who posted anti-Israel and antisemitic messages online, even though she was hired during former President Donald Trump’s administration.

Hawley sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Thursday criticizing the department for employing Nejwa Ali as an adjudication officer.

“I am alarmed by reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) currently employs a former spokeswoman for the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) as an officer charged with adjudicating U.S. immigration cases,” Hawley wrote. “Ms. Ali’s reported statements make clear that she harbors intensely negative view against the State of Israel and supports the recent barbarism perpetrated against its citizens by Hamas terrorists.”

Hawley’s letter omits that Ali was hired by the DHS in 2019, when the Trump administration controlled the White House.

Ali has a significant social media presence where she has made inflammatory posts about Israel, which have been more frequent since the Hamas attack earlier this month. Ali’s posts spawned a slew of criticism from Hawley and other senators like Cruz and Rick Scott (R-FL). None of the criticism mention Ali’s tenure starting in 2019.

The Daily Wire article about Ali, which Cruz cites in an X (formerly Twitter) post, states that she was hired under the Trump administration (albeit on the 22nd paragraph of the story). Ali’s LinkedIn page shows that the federal government first hired her in Oct. 2008 — under the George W. Bush administration — and the DHS first hiring her as an asylum officer in July 2019.

As a result of the Daily Wire’s report, the DHS has put Ali on leave. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) spokesperson Matthew Bourke previously told the Daily Wire that “USCIS strongly condemns antisemitism and the use of violent rhetoric in any form” before confirming Ali’s suspension with the Washington Examiner.

Both Hawley and Cruz have also not commented on Trump’s recent comments praising Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militant group that has been attacking Israel on its northern border. During a rally in Florida on Wednesday, Trump inexplicitly praised the group while criticizing Israel’s military and U.S. intelligence.

“Two nights ago, I read all of Biden’s security people … they said, ‘Gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn’t attack from the north, because that’s the most vulnerable spot.’ I said, ‘Wait a minute. You know, Hezbollah is very smart.’ They’re all very smart,” Trump said.

These comments garnered criticism from both parties, but both senators has been silent on the issue. Hawley’s office did not immediately respond to Heartland Signal for comment.

Hawley has served in the U.S. Senate since 2019, and he is a staunch ally of Trump. He was one of eight Senate Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election results and infamously showed solidarity with the Jan. 6 rioters, who later forced him to flee when they stormed the Capitol building.

Both Hawley and Cruz are running for reelection in 2024, with Hawley seeking his second term in office and Cruz seeking his third.