The United States Department of State announced on Friday that it has approved a $151.8 million sale of munitions and related support to Israel without submitting the deal for congressional review.
According to the department, Marco Rubio, the U.S. Secretary of State, determined that an emergency situation required the immediate approval of the sale. The decision comes a week after the United States and Israel began coordinated military strikes against Iran.
Israel had requested 12,000 BLU-110A/B general purpose bombs weighing 1,000 pounds each, the State Department said in a statement. The primary contractor for the deal will be Repkon USA, based in Texas.
The department explained that Rubio determined the sale was “in the national security interests of the United States.”
However, the decision has drawn criticism from some lawmakers. Gregory Meeks, a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, said the use of emergency authority to bypass congressional oversight suggested poor preparation for the conflict with Iran.
“The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted it was fully prepared for this war. Rushing to invoke emergency authority to circumvent Congress tells a different story. This is an emergency of the Trump administration’s own creation,” Meeks said in a statement.
The United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on February 28, after which Tehran retaliated with attacks targeting Israeli territory and regional countries hosting U.S. military bases.
According to Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, the past week of U.S. and Israeli attacks has killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians and left thousands more injured. Several senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have also reportedly been killed.
The U.S. military said six American service members were killed in a strike on a facility in Kuwait, while Israel reported that at least 10 civilians have died across the country since the escalation began.
Washington has maintained strong military and political support for Israel under both Donald Trump and former president Joe Biden during more than two years of Israeli conflicts involving Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The Trump administration has previously authorised military sales to Israel without congressional review, a step that was also taken by the Biden administration during its time in office.
U.S. military assistance to Israel has faced increased scrutiny from human rights experts, particularly during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, widespread displacement, and a severe humanitarian crisis.
Israel maintains that its military actions are acts of self-defense following an attack by militants from Hamas in October 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and led to the abduction of more than 250 hostages.
