The top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee has put a roadblock to one of the largest U.S. arms transfers during Trump’s second term, refusing to authorize a $2.8 billion sale of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. Gregory Meeks announced on Tuesday the suspension of a package of 40,000 bombs, which are among the most destructive conventional munitions in the US arsenal. Netanyahu government in accordance with US law and with appropriate protections for civilians,” he said. “Therefore, I will not approve this sale at this time.” The deal, funded through US foreign military financing, covers 20,000 MK-84 bombs, 20,000 BLU-117 bombs and 20,000 I-2000 penetrating warheads. Meeks cannot single-handedly veto the transfer of weapons worth $2.8 billion, but its influence comes from the informal custom of “tiered review.” Under this practice, the State Department presents major weapons packages to top foreign affairs lawmakers for informal approval before sending formal notification to Congress to overturn the sale outright would require a veto-proof joint resolution of disapproval in both chambers, a barrier that Congress has not passed. A similar initiative by Senator Bernie Sanders failed in April along party lines. 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared a national security emergency to bypass congressional review and expedite nearly $3 billion in weapons, including more than 35,000 heavy bombs and 4,000 bunker-buster warheads. With a separate $6.67 billion package in January, the administration has authorized or expedited more than $12 billion in weapons for Israel since Trump took office. position. Meeks has said the pace has outpaced oversight, accusing officials of skipping briefings and rushing sales while raising alarms about Israeli conduct in the occupied West Bank and Lebanon. The suspension also comes amid long-standing accusations that Israel has illegally used American weapons. 2024, the State Department flagged at least five Israeli units for those reasons even before the war in Gaza began, including a battalion linked to the death of a Palestinian American at a West Bank checkpoint Meanwhile, the Geneva conventions prohibit arming a party where there is a clear risk of committing war crimes, a standard that a U.N. commission of inquiry cited last year in determining that Israel’s campaign in Gaza amounted to genocide and called on the United States and other states to stop arms transfers. By 2024, Biden administration lawyers, including some from the State Department, had concluded that it was reasonable to assess that Israel had violated international humanitarian law and the Leahy laws by using American weapons in Gaza, even as the administration publicly avoided making that determination. Meeks, long known for his strong pro-Israel views, emphasized that the withholding was not a break with the country itself. Congressional support for Israel’s legitimate defense needs,” he said. “It reflects Congress’s responsibility to ensure that U.S.-funded weapons are used legally, responsibly, and with meaningful safeguards for human life.” The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
