State Department Bypasses Congress to Send More Than 20,000 Bombs to Israel

The Trump administration has bypassed Congress at least four times to send major weapons packages to Israel

by Dave DeCamp | March 8, 2026

https://news.antiwar.com/2026/03/08/state-department-bypasses-congress-to-send-more-than-20000-bombs-to-israel/

The Trump administration is bypassing Congress to arm Israel with more than 20,000 bombs by declaring the war with Iran an “emergency” as US-Israeli strikes continue to pound the Islamic Republic.

The State Department said in a statement on Friday that it had approved a “Foreign Military Sale” to arm Israel with 12,000 BLU-110A/B general-purpose, 1,000-pound bomb bodies at a value of $151.8 million.

“The Secretary of State has determined and provided detailed justification that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and defense services is in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, as amended,” the department said.

According to The New York Times, the deal also includes 10,000 500-pound bombs and 5,000 small-diameter bombs, worth about $500 million, bringing the total cost of the sale to more than $650 million. It’s unclear if the deal will be funded by US military aid, which is how the US typically arms Israel.

The deal marks at least the fourth time the Trump administration has bypassed Congress to arm Israel. Back in January, the State Department approved a $6.5 billion weapons package for Israel that included Apache attack helicopters and military vehicles without waiting for the normal congressional review process.