The Trump administration approved a $2.8 billion arms sale to Israel on Sept. 15.

This deal included 40,000 one-ton bombs, said a military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Washington Post. The package would include 20,000 of America’s 2,000-pound MK-84 and BLU-117 bombs, and 20,000 I-2000 penetrator warheads. Israel previously used the MK-84 and BLU-117 bombs in war with Gaza and Lebanon, generating international indignation from the harm to civilians caused by their wide blast radius. The funds to purchase the bombs would come from the Foreign Military Financing program, whereby the U.S. gives funds to other countries to purchase its weapons through taxpayer dollars. 

The pending transaction has been informally notified to congressional committees, which will pose an interesting test for Democrats, as many continue to harbor resentment toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Rep. Gregory Meeks, the ranking member in the House of Foreign Affairs Committee, which reviews weapons deals, said in a statement that the proposed sale raised “grave, unresolved concerns about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon…I therefore will not clear this sale at this time.” Allying herself with the counterpart to that role, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen also placed a hold on the weapons sale as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

While congressional leaders can express opposition of the deal to the Trump administration, they don’t usually hold the power to stop it outright because the administration has options to circumvent the rejection. Secretary of State Marco Rubio can use an emergency waiver to push the sale forward, but those waivers have monetary restrictions. In this case, these top Democrats have the authority to place a hold on the sale because it exceeds a certain dollar amount.

Although the sale remains halted at the moment, smaller sales could theoretically pass, and Trump’s history of disregarding congressional powers suggests this sale isn’t fully dead. 

Human rights groups have condemned Israel for the use of these bombs in densely populated areas, which potentially resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians in strikes meant to target only one individual. Another senior administration official commented about humanitarian concerns, who said, “all foreign arms sales are moving through the appropriate process. We do not comment on pending sales.”

MK84 bombs– a favored weapon of the IDF– send metal fragments in every direction for thousands of feet, are capable of tearing through metal and thick concrete and can create large craters in the ground. The I-2000 bunker busters explode on delay after smashing through an outer surface such as rock or concrete. The Biden administration previously ceased sending the MK84 bombs during the Gaza war out of concern for the Palestinian civilians, but this resulted in only suspending a single shipment in the spring of 2024, since Trump reversed the policy in January 2025.

This arms deal comes in a series of sales within recent years, similar in substance, in various countries. In December of 2025, Trump announced an $11 billion arms sale for Taiwan, but he has held off approving the sale to avoid upsetting Chinese leader Xi Jinping. This package included missiles, anti-drone weaponry and air defense systems. In May 2025, President Trump and King Salman of Saudi Arabia agreed on a $142 billion arms sale in return for around $600 billion in new Saudi investment in the U.S.

Responses have been mixed on both the right and left. Far-right-wing influencer Tucker Carlson, who is notoriously anti-Israel, posted a rant on social media on X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 15, attacking the proposed arms deal. He said, “there is no precedent for what the Trump administration is doing. Nor is there a justification.”