Senate Democrats are putting their weight behind a measure that is designed to prevent President Joe Biden from sidestepping Congress when approving weapons sales to Israel as the country continues its war with Hamas. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia will introduce the amendment on Tuesday.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine speaks during the Vice Presidential Debate with Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence at Longwood University on October 4, 2016 in Farmville, Virginia.
If passed, it would strike language in the $118 billion national security supplemental that allows any future arms sales to Israel to go through without first notifying Congress. The larger legislation is at risk of dying in the Senate because of bipartisan opposition, which makes it unlikely the provision will even see a vote.
However, the push from Kaine and the Senate Democratic caucus is in part indicative of the growing critique of Biden coming from the left due to his handling of the Israel/Hamas war, and America's involvement in it as well as the region at large.
"Congress and the American people deserve full transparency about military assistance to all nations," Kaine said in a statement to the Associated Press. "No president of any party should bypass Congress on issues of war, peace, and diplomacy."
The amendment has the backing of the Senate Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence committees and comes after Biden went around the Senate twice in December in order to send $250 million to Israel.
Bypassing Congress for arms sales is seen as an unusual step that has traditionally met with resistance who normally have between two weeks to a month to decide on proposed weapons transfers, or to block them.
The Biden administration has justified recent sales by citing emergency determinations. It is rare for the State Department to circumvent lawmakers, but not unprecedented.
But a growing number of Democrats are calling for the Biden administration to stick to a more deliberate methodology for weapons transfers as fighting in the region of the Middle East continues to intensify.
"That's why I'm introducing a commonsense amendment, backed by dozens of my Senate colleagues, to ensure that we maintain full congressional oversight for U.S. aid to Israel, just as we do for every other nation we support," Sen. Kaine said. "The same standard should apply to every country receiving U.S. military assistance."
