The State Department has given Congress formal notification that it plans to move forward with sales of more than $8 billion in weapons to Israel, bypassing an informal review process that was underway in a House committee.
The move took place just days after President Trump met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and said the United States would “take over” the devastated Gaza Strip and turn it into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
The State Department formally notified Congress of its intention on Friday. That same day, the Pentagon put out two news releases, one saying it was selling to Israel 3,000 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles worth $660 million, and another saying it was sending $6.75 billion of bombs and guidance kits. The Pentagon did not issue a news release for the sale of artillery shells, which as a direct commercial sale did not require the department to put out a detailed statement. U.S. officials also included additional bombs. Together, all the sales are worth $8.4 billion.
The Biden administration announced the $8 billion sale in early January, then sent the entire package to the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for informal review. During that process, lawmakers can ask the State Department detailed questions about the sales before making a decision on whether or not to approve them.
The two top Republican lawmakers on the committees gave their approval, and a Democratic senator eventually did too, but Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House committee, decided to use the review process to ask more questions.
The State Department moved ahead with the package after it had sat in informal review for more than 20 days, the typical amount of time granted to senior lawmakers for their consideration of arms sales to Israel. The normal informal review time varies depending on the partner country.
The sales will almost certainly continue unhindered, since Congress would need to muster a two-thirds vote in both houses to halt the orders.
Following the announcement that the sales would move ahead despite his hold, Mr. Meeks sharply criticized what he characterized as an erosion of longstanding precedent, accusing the Trump administration of sidelining Congress in its decision to proceed with the arms transfer.
“I continue to support Israel’s critical military needs as it faces a range of regional threats,” Mr. Meeks said in a statement. But his backing, he made clear, was not unconditional. He had engaged in what he described as “close consultation” with administration officials on the sales, raising a number of concerns — only to find his inquiries met with silence. The administration, he said, had failed to provide meaningful documentation or justification for its decision.
The administration’s move to carry out the sales was lawful, but Mr. Meeks said it showed “blatant disregard of longstanding congressional prerogative.” More than a bureaucratic slight, he argued, it was a fundamental challenge to the balance of power among coequal branches of government.
In 2019, during his first administration, Mr. Trump declared an “emergency” over Iran, allowing Mike Pompeo, then the secretary of state, to move forward with sending weapons to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia despite the fact that Congress was still asking questions about the arms in the initial review process. Mr. Pompeo’s move led to an investigation by the State Department’s inspector general.
Friday’s notification was sent absent an emergency declaration. In 2023, the Biden administration used a similar mechanism to circumvent congressional oversight for arms sales to Israel by invoking the same emergency provision.
Separate from the $8 billion package, Congress is reviewing a request by Israel for a license to buy 5,000 assault rifles from American gun makers. The State Department could soon submit more requests for assault rifle licenses to Congress for informal review. During the Biden administration, the State Department held up a license that would permit Israel to buy 24,000 U.S.-made assault rifles. In direct commercial sales, a foreign country asks the State Department for a license to buy weapons from a company.
