On September 15, 2026, the Trump administration informally notified congressional committees of a planned $2.8 billion munitions sale to Israel. The Washington Post, which first reported it, and Reuters, citing officials who spoke anonymously, described 40,000 MK-84 and BLU-117 bombs of the 2,000-pound class, and the Post also reported 20,000 penetrator warheads, financed largely through Foreign Military Financing, the U.S. grant program Israel uses to buy American weapons.
On September 16, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced he would not sign off. “I remain firmly committed to Israel's security and its ability to defend itself against serious regional threats. But the Trump administration's proposed sale of 40,000 2,000-pound bombs, some of the most destructive munitions in our arsenal, raises grave, unresolved concerns about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon,” he said. “The Trump administration has not provided sufficient assurances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians. I therefore will not clear this sale at this time.”
His hold is part of an informal review in which the State Department customarily seeks sign-off from committee leaders before formally notifying Congress. It is not a veto, and AP reported it “will not likely affect the sale.” Once the sale is formally notified, AP reported, Secretary of State Marco Rubio “can bypass the normal congressional review process by making an emergency determination,” as he did in 2025 for a nearly $3 billion sale to Israel. The Biden administration had paused a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs in 2024, and Trump lifted that pause.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said the U.S. would be “sending bombs paid for by American taxpayers to a government led by a wanted war criminal” and vowed, “We will work to stop it.” Opposition also came from the right: former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, “We did not vote for this. America does not support this,” and Tucker Carlson criticized the sale. A senior administration official told Newsweek, “All foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process. We do not comment on pending sales.”
Update (September 19, 2026): Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on Senate Foreign Relations, is also holding the sale, and reportedly has been since July. If so, the administration sent the September 15 notification to Congress already knowing the Senate's ranking member objected.
Two caveats. This rests on a single outlet citing one person, other coverage credits that outlet rather than confirming independently, and Shaheen's office has not confirmed it on the record. And a hold of this kind carries no binding restriction; it is a request for consultation that an administration may honor or ignore. The administration bypassed that review for 35,500 bombs in the previous year.