S.J.Res 32-35: Joint resolutions providing for congressional disapproval of the proposed foreign military sale to Israel of certain defense articles and services.
S.J.Res 32, 33, 34 and 35 were introduced on 10 March 2025 by SEN Bernie Sanders (I-VT). A motion to discharge S.J.Res 33 on 3 April 2025 failed by 15-82. While a motion to discharge S.J. Res 34 on 30 July failed 24-73-3NV. The remainder of these JRDs are currently pending before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Related legislation: Arms Export Control Act of 1976, as amended. See also previous S.J.Res JRDs
Bill Summary: These Joint Resolutions of Disapproval (JRDs) would prevent the sale of certain lethal weapons by the United States to Israel.
Context: On 28 February 2025, the Trump Administration utilized emergency authorities to advance four sales under the Foreign Military Sales program for Israel. These sales included (with corresponding JRDs noted):
24-38 (S. J. Res 32) D9 Caterpillar armored bulldozers. Value: $295M. FMF Funded.
25-34 (S. J. Res 33) 35,529 MK 84 or BLU-117 2,000lb bombs and 4,000 I-200 Penetrator warheads. Value: $2.04B. Mixed funding.
25-26 (S. J. Res 34) 201 MK83 1,000lb bombs; 4,799 BLU-110 1,000lb bombs; 5,000 JDAM kits. Value: $675.7M. FMF Funded
25-0C (S. J. Res 35) Cost Increase for Previously Notified munitions
The first two sales are of particular concern. 35,529 2,000lb bombs is sufficient explosive power to decimate a total area of over 13,673 km sq, an area equivalent to the size of Connecticut or Puerto Rico – and more than double the size of the West Bank and Gaza Strips combined. Multiple human rights and international legal experts have found the use of such bombs, which have been used to kill tens of thousands in Gaza, to be disproportionate. D9 bulldozers, meanwhile, have been used extensively by the Israeli security forces to demolish Palestinian homes in the West Bank in acts of collective punishment, which are illegal under international law.
As noted above, three of these four sales will be entirely funded with U.S. taxpayer dollars in the form of foreign military financing, and the fourth will be divided between the U.S. taxpayer and the government of Israel.
The use of the emergency authority for these sales is particularly absurd given that most of the items to be sold have not yet been produced, and will take years to manufacture and deliver. There is no conceivable situation in which a slow, trundling bulldozer (of which Israel already has scores) is an emergency, making this a clear abuse of the legal authority.
Because an emergency authority was invoked, these sales were immediately available to be offered to Israel. However, the Senate Parliamentarian has previously ruled that under the Arms Export Control Act, these sales do remain subject to the expedited procedures available via the JRD process. Once introduced, a JRD that relates to Israel must sit before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for five days before it can be called up on the floor.
The U.S. has appropriated over $17.9 billion in U.S. taxpayer funding on weapons for Israel in the past 16 months an amount roughly comparable to the annual cost of NASA), and tens of thousands of U.S. munitions have been used against civilian targets in Gaza to devastating effect, resulting in tens of thousands of Palestinians killed and entire cities flattened in what historians, human rights watchdogs, and a U.S. federal judge have found to be a “plausible case of genocide.”
American Values Analysis: These Resolutions directly align with American values by opposing the provision of weapons to a country that is using them to commit atrocities in violation of U.S. and international law.
American Interest Analysis: These Resolutions advance America’s interests by preventing our further complicity and public association with Israel’s globally unpopular and regionally-destabilizing attacks on Gaza and the West Bank. They would also prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds.
A New Policy’s Recommendation: SUPPORT
A New Policy supports these Joint Resolutions of Disapproval because they would prevent the further provision of lethal weaponry to a country that has used American weapons in violation of international law, and by doing so has not only associated the slaughter of thousands of civilians with the stamp “Made in America,” but has also done deep and lasting harm to American’s regional and global interests.
A New Policy notes that JRDs require, in practice, support of veto-proof (i.e. ⅔) majorities in the House and Senate, and on that basis A New Policy supports the calling up of these Resolutions on the Floor of the Senate at a time that the Sponsor considers is most conducive to advancing the Congressional and public debate on the broader question of U.S. policy towards Palestine and Israel.
For more information please contact: Josh Paul, (202) 770-0055, info@anewpolicy.org
