Trump announces $7B arms sale, circumventing congressional review

• The Trump administration approved a $7.4 billion arms sale to Israel on Feb. 7. The deal includes $6.75 billion worth of munitions and support, along with 3,000 Hellfire missiles valued at about $660 million, with deliveries starting in 2028.
• Defense officials stated the sale aims to help Israel address current and future threats, while Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., criticized the administration for bypassing Congress and failing to justify the deal.
• Both Presidents Trump and Biden have previously bypassed the weapons review process, with Trump approving an $8 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia in 2019 and Biden pushing through a $147 million arms deal with Israel in 2023.

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The Trump administration approved a more than $7 billion arms sale to Israel on Friday, Feb. 7. The announcement has been criticized by some lawmakers as they were reviewing the deal and raising concerns to the president.

What is the deal?

The State Department said the deal consists of $6.75 billion worth of munitions, guidance kits, fuses and munitions support. Officials said 3,000 Hellfire missiles and other equipment valued at about $660 million were also part of the deal.

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The deliveries of the missiles are expected to start in 2028.

Defense officials said the sale is to help Israel deal with threats and serve as a deterrent to would-be threats.

“The proposed sale improves Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serves as a deterrent to regional threats,” the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release. “Israel already has these weapons in its inventory and will have no difficulty absorbing this equipment into its armed forces.”

New York Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks raised concerns with the White House before they had approved the deal. However, he said that the Trump administration failed to justify approving the deal.

“I continue to support Israel’s critical military needs as it faces a range of regional threats and was engaged in close consultation with the Administration on a range of questions and concerns,” Meeks said in a statement.

Meeks claimed that the White House’s decision to go over Congress on the arms deal showed a lack of respect for the legislative branch of the federal government.

“Through his actions, President Trump has made abundantly clear he holds no regard for Congress as the people’s duly elected representatives and a co-equal branch of government,” Meeks said.

Can Trump authorize arms sales himself?

Both Presidents Trump and Joe Biden have bypassed the weapons review process before.

Trump bypassed Congress in 2019 during his first term in office. He approved an $8 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia without congressional approval.

Trump said he was declaring a national security emergency, which allowed the deal to go through.

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More recently, the Biden administration bypassed Congress to push an arms deal with Israel through. In 2023, Biden used a similar tactic to Trump and made an emergency determination covering a more than $147 million sale for equipment that is needed to make 155 mm shells.